A Game of Chess
by BlueSunflower
Summary: Sam has a job to do in Hell. He just wished he knew what it was. Sequel to 'The Plan in Action.' Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** It is not necessary to read "The Plan In Action" in order to follow this story. However, this is set within that universe and there are many references to it.

If this was Hell, then it wasn't bad, although Sam was pretty sure there was more to where he was than what met the eye. The place he was in was immaculate, as were a lot of the people standing in line with him. A great many of them seemed to be wearing business suits, and expensive ones at that. Sam had a sudden wish he'd been able to dress for Hell a lot better than his knit shirt and jeans. Oh well. Obviously the Devil hadn't thought it was important for Sam to fit in.

Looking around, Sam tried to take it all in. He looked like he was in the lobby of an incredibly expensive hotel. It was massive. And high. Sam thought the Work Bench would fit in it at least a couple of times over. It was also extremely ornate. Silver, gold, mahogany, and what looked like ivory decorated everything, including the tiles he was standing on. At one end of the lobby were two large white doors. They were at the top of a short flight of stairs, and reached almost to the ceiling. The doors were intricately carved, although from where he was standing, Sam couldn't see by what.

There was no one else in this place other than him, the people standing in line, and what Sam assumed to be a demon, since he didn't have horns. The uniformed demon stood behind a check-in counter. The people who had already checked in were standing in a group at the bottom of the stairs by the doors. Most of them held the same expression: relief. Several even looked quite smug. Sam also noticed that out of all the people in the room, he was by far the youngest.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only an hour, Sam finally made it to the check-in. He walked up alone to the counter. The demon didn't even look up as he approached.

"Hello," Sam said hesitantly, putting his hands on the counter.

"O'Connell, David. Check. Welcome - " The demon looked up at him with a falsely warm smile but quickly stopped. He was eyeing Sam's wrists. Sam looked too. His wrists were covered with gold bands, but he was pretty sure they weren't real gold. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed them before. They certainly hadn't been there before he'd come to Hell. Sam wished the demon hadn't pointed the bracelets out, because now he was acutely aware of how much they chafed. The demon looked puzzled and rechecked his paperwork, which seemed to give him no answers. Curious, he turned back to Sam.

"My mistake. I wonder how you got here. We never get contracts at this entrance." The demon made an insincere attempt to control his laughter. "They know what to expect." Looking directly at Sam he said in amusement, "You must be a real moron if you didn't even think to get a longevity clause. I hope whatever you traded your soul for was worth being so stupid."

Sam started to argue that he hadn't traded his soul for anything, but decided against it. What did it matter? He was still in Hell. With a laugh that Sam knew wasn't even close to being friendly, the demon told him, "Welcome to Hell, Slave. Enjoy your stay. Now go stand with the others."

Sam gave an instinctive 'thanks', which drew a raised eyebrow from the demon. Then Sam went to join the crowd gathering by the stairs. Everything about this place confused him. This was not what he expected Hell to look like. The Devil had told him not to be scared, but Sam really hadn't taken him seriously when he said it. He was going to Hell for God's sake. Hell was desolate. Dark. Torturous, even. Sam had never considered it might look like the Waldorf-Astoria.

Then a memory came back to him. A lost load of apples, a dead man in a crashed truck, and the Devil, as usual, mocking him. _Minions? Do you know who works for me in the office? White collar criminals. They hate their jobs. They hate me. I'm lucky if I can get a cup of coffee in the morning._

It dawned on Sam that this place must be a classic bait and switch. Make the new souls think they've made it to Heaven. An evil way to start their afterlife with false hope cruelly taken away. Perhaps they even thought the white doors were the Pearly Gates. It made sense that there would be a sterilized Hell made for the souls for whom endless paperwork, inkless pens, easily broken pencils, manual labor, and the like would be enough to drive them insane for all eternity. Like water torture, the first few drips were manageable, but after the suffering of unceasing relentlessness, it became pure torment. God knew all it took to drive Sam nuts was a simple conversation with the Devil. If he was subjected to that 24/7 no way would his sanity stay intact.

Sam had been near the end of the line. It didn't take much longer for the demon to finish check-in. As soon as he was done, the white doors slowly opened emitting a blinding white light. But that lasted only until a new demon appeared, and there was no mistaking this one as anything other than a monster. His job was obviously to introduce them to where they truly were, and Sam watched as relief and arrogance faded quickly away to be replaced by terror and despair.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you for your patience with this piece. Also, thank you **pacejunkie**! You already know how awesome you are.

* * *

The Devil had once said that if he told Sam to take the trash out in Hell, Sam would do it. He found out quickly the Devil hadn't been joking. Although in this case, Sam was painstakingly cleaning the floors instead. It was backbreaking work, but at least it didn't come with mind games. Sam was grateful for that. He was also thankful that as it turned out, his street clothes were to his advantage. He couldn't imagine doing this work wearing a tie, let alone an expensive business suit. The women must really be suffering in their skirts and heels.

The meaning of the bracelets became quickly clear as well. When the group he was in had been integrated with the other doomed souls, Sam saw a few others with bracelets too. He recognized one as Stafford, the cop who had sold his soul for five high profile cases, and who had later been 'broken'. Realizing the bracelets were his mark of slavery was anything but pleasant. The people who had made contracts with the Devil were treated as the lowest of the low. Apparently, Hell had no patience for those who valued their soul so little they'd be willing to sell it for a few pittances of temporary pleasure.

This was so unjust. Technically, he'd never sold his soul. The Devil had once complained how much he coddled Sam, but Sam hadn't believed it at the time. Well, he was certainly a believer now. The contracts got the worst assignments. In fact, Sam was valued so little, he had been stripped of his identity, which probably explained why the demon who had checked him in had no paperwork on him. Sam was now simply known as 'Slave', which occasionally made it confusing when the demons addressed the other slaves. The demons didn't seem to mind however, and actually appeared to relish any opportunity they could to punish a soul, especially a slave.

Sam had nearly been sick the first time he'd seen someone punished. He didn't know what the man did, but whatever it was, the soul had paid dearly for it. While the man begged for mercy, his overseer ignored him and used a large knotted whip to thrash him. But the whip didn't just lash the man, it cut straight through his skin and muscle, exposing him to the bone.

It immediately became clear what the Devil had meant by his last words to Sam in the park. He had to stay out of trouble, because otherwise he would never survive any form of Hell's punishments. If that type of whipping was what could happen to a regular soul, he feared what would happen to him as a slave. At the time, Sam had looked down at his toothbrush and immediately doubled his efforts.

So far though, he hadn't been touched. Sam hadn't given them reason to, since he'd been respectfully compliant with every direction, didn't cry about his fate, and worked to the standard which they seemed to expect. Because of this they had left him alone, although he occasionally saw the demons give him peculiar glances as if his behavior was unusual.

Sam worried how long his safety would last, however. No one seemed to notice or care that he was actually still alive, and as the time ticked by and the work increased, Sam was finding it harder and harder to fight his hunger and exhaustion. He wondered what game the Devil was up to by putting him in this position. Sam didn't believe for one second that this was the job he said he wanted Sam to do. This was why he had to come to Hell? Cleaning? No way. Nothing was ever as it appeared when dealing with the Devil. He always had something up his sleeve. But so far, Sam had been left to puzzle out his new hellish situation alone.

Sam spent his time imagining the hell he so badly wanted to give the Devil when the jerk finally showed up. He was just finishing cleaning the bathroom tiles when a pair of shoes blocked his work.

He looked up and groaned. "Great. It's you."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Danke wieder pace.

* * *

"Gladys, where are you taking me? I'm supposed to be cleaning the restrooms. If they see I'm gone…" 

Gladys ignored him and kept walking. Finally, she stopped in front of an open doorway that led into a fairly small room. From outside, Sam thought it looked suspiciously like the Bench's staffroom. That greatly annoyed him. If it turned out his former breakroom was a portal to Hell, _someone _was going to get earful. He wouldn't have needed to waste all his time waiting in line at the DMV.

Gladys walked in and motioned for him to follow. He entered, and watched her walk over to the refrigerator. She rummaged around, and finally pulled out what looked like a plain sandwich, some cheese, and a bottle of water.

Sam felt a wave of relief and was incredibly grateful. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had eaten or slept. They both sat down at the table. "Thank you," he said appreciatively, and started to eat.

After a couple of bites, he mumbled, "So where is he?"

She looked suspicious. "Where is who?"

Sam threw her the look she usually gave him. "Don't play dumb. You know who I mean."

Gladys eyed him. She then used the patented demeaning tone Sam knew so well. "The Boss doesn't waste his time with things that are beneath him."

"Then why are you here?" Gladys scowled and Sam rectified his unintended insult. "I mean, you knew I was here, so obviously he wasted his time telling you something about me."

Gladys appraised him. "You _do _learn fast," she said, slightly impressed.

"What does he have planned for me, Gladys?" Sam persisted.

"Don't delude yourself. You're barely the gum I scrape off my shoe. There is nothing planned for you."

Sam shook his head. "I don't believe you. After that warning he gave me to be good, the Devil knew I'd stay out of trouble, so my treatment as a slave here can't be what you were worried about yesterday at the DMV."

She looked genuinely surprised at his acuity. Covering quickly, she narrowed her eyes. "The Boss doesn't need to explain how things work. You just do as he says."

"Yeah," Sam said annoyed. "I got that already." Sam finished his meal, then sullenly asked, "Do I have to go back now?"

"No." Her smile was more of a smirk. "You can work right here." She pointed to a cabinet that Sam could only assume was filled with cleaning supplies.

Sam sighed. "Of course. Why am I not surprised?" He went to get the supplies out as Gladys watched with an amused grin on her face. She leaned back in her chair and relaxed. Sam glowered at her as he started cleaning.

A couple of minutes later, a tall, blonde demon entered the staffroom. Like most of the male demons, his short hair made his horns prominent. He nodded at Gladys as he went to get coffee.

"Gladys."

"Jim." She returned coyly.

Was Gladys _flirting_? Her tone reminded Sam of the way Andi had said his name in happier times, but he pushed those memories to the side. This place was hell enough. Sam's curiosity was raised, but he tried not to let it show as he continued to work.

It seemed Jim was just as interested. He sat down at the table across from her. "You here because of the meeting too?"

"Yeah. I got called in." Sam turned to clean the other counter and chanced a glance just in time to see Gladys lean over and lightly touch Jim's arm. "Not that I'm complaining."

"No, of course not." Jim was clearly enjoying Gladys' attention. Sam tried hard not to smirk. "But it's odd having it here in the common office, isn't it? I mean, what with all the rules we have to abide by because of the working class souls. I can't remember the last time we had a meeting here, let alone a First Hierarchy meeting. I wonder what the Boss is up to. _My _boss was plenty pissed when he found out he'd have to assume a human form in order to come."

It looked to Sam that Gladys feigned surprise at this information. "Leviathan is here? Are all the Lords here?"

"The ones who are capable, yes." Jim confirmed. "The others sent delegates. The top lieutenants are here too. The Boss said attendance was mandatory."

"Mandatory?" Gladys looked thoughtful. Sam got the impression Gladys was putting on a show for him. It was like she wanted him to know this information. "Must be bigger than what's been put out then."

"It is." Jim looked around to make sure no one could hear him, then told her, "I really shouldn't tell you this. Truth is, we're working at 94 now. The Boss is furious." Acting as if he'd confided too much, Jim straightened up. "So, what are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing much." She gestured at Sam. "Mainly prisoner transfer. All the souls are being tapped to scrub. I don't think this place has been this clean in centuries."

Jim snorted. "And you got stuck with a slave no less."

Gladys smirked. She drew Jim's attention back to herself. "This one's not worth it. I'm amazed he even knows what a broom is, let alone what it's for." Sam scowled at her, making sure Jim didn't see him.

They both got up and Gladys linked her arm through Jim's arm. Then they both walked out, leaving Sam alone to ponder what he'd heard.

* * *

Sam was just finishing scrubbing out a stain on the carpet when an enraged demon entered, obviously searching for him. 

"There you are - " Sam backed up afraid, but to his surprise the demon stopped abruptly. He had noticed the spotless work. He slowly evaluated Sam. Then he said thoughtfully, "You know, I think I might have just the job for you." He gave a wicked grin that troubled Sam. "That last slave didn't work out," he gave a nasty laugh which scared Sam again, "but you might do nicely."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews. I'm trying to get this out as fast as I can, but it's not co-operating very well, and there's still quite a bit of the story left. At least you're getting a long chapter this time!

**Disclaimer**: The story is mine, but Sam belongs to Reaper, and the rest belong to various religions. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions, and I will direct you to the sources I used at Wikipedia (shock!) and several demon information sites.

* * *

In the crowded antechamber off the meeting hall, a demon overseer moved over to his friend. "You put that new slave in to replace the one that just got annihilated to the Outer Realms, didn't you?" 

The friend smiled maliciously. "Let's see how long he can work without earning a punishment in there."

* * *

Sam suspected Daniel had an easier lot when he had been thrown in with the lions. Sam also thought he'd be lucky if his outcome in this case was going to be as fortunate. If he thought Hell had sucked before, this eclipsed it. He'd been told to keep out of sight, which had been tough to do since as a slave it was obvious he was the favorite target for the demons to torment. He'd tried to hide underneath the table. 

The little Sam had seen of the chamber before being shoved in had been striking. Much like the place he had entered Hell from, this place was also richly decorated. Unlike that entrance, it was also teeming with souls, toiling desperately to keep the demons satiated with whatever they desired. The large room was filled with demons, all in the shape of humans like Gladys. All sat around a very long table, the same one he was trying to hide under. Sam had noticed that about a half dozen or so of them were _much _taller than regular human size. They fit oddly in chairs obviously made for a smaller stature.

Sam tried to keep working, but the exhaustion was finally becoming too much. He didn't know how much longer he could take. He couldn't even summon the strength to continue being angry at the Devil for all this. Sam was struggling to clean the table legs when he heard it.

"….Neesam, Dupree, Chang, and Petrosky."

Sam banged his head on the underside of the table. He heard a muffled laughter from the demons around him in response. Neesam? The soul he'd just caught the other night? Why were they talking about him? Did he escape again?

The demon whose chair was next to where he'd been laboring kicked him for not immediately returning to work. Sam was more stunned than hurt. Straining to hear the rest of the report, he crawled out from under the table and started cleaning behind the demon's chair.

The demon giving the report continued. "The latest breach, of course, has complicated the situation even further. Our reapers are overwhelmed with mere containment, let alone recovering the most dangerous who have already escaped."

A voice Sam didn't recognize interrupted. "From what I understand of the current Earth situation, the reapers are not just overwhelmed, they're failing miserably."

Sam was no longer paying attention to what he was doing. Without thinking, he rose higher while cleaning the chair, bringing his head above the table. Several demons spotted him and smirked.

"Yes," the first demon admitted. Sam noticed he was the only demon standing. "According to reports, the innocents are suffering at a staggering rate. Of course, we are also losing the reapers at a staggering rate as well."

Sam slowly stopped working and just listened. More demons noticed him. If he hadn't been shocked by what he was hearing, Sam might have heard the first warning to get back to work. But Sam stood, oblivious to the attention he was attracting.

"_**I SAID GET BACK TO WORK, SLAVE!"**_

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud sound cracked and Sam looked around just in time to see the heavy knotted whip frozen mere inches from his face.

A familiar voice came to him. "I thought I told you to be a good boy, Sam."

The room stilled. Even the souls stopped working. What was more, they weren't being punished for it. The overseers were motionless, staring at him.

Sam turned around to see the Devil. He didn't seem upset at Sam, but curious. It was obvious he had frozen the whip. Sam looked back at the whip frozen in midair. "Thank you."

The Devil smiled and nodded. Several demons exchanged stunned glances. A few more leaned over to whisper to each other. No one spoke out loud. As the awkwardness stretched, Sam nervously asked the Devil, "Did Neesam escape again?"

"No. Obviously the paperwork has not made its way to those who are most in need of it." This was clearly directed at the demon whom Sam had inadvertently interrupted. The demon flinched.

Sam nodded in relief. "Good. He was a real bitch to catch the first time around."

If Sam had thought it was silent before, it was nothing compared to the silence now. It was like a complete vacuum of sound. Sam looked around. All eyes were plastered on him. Still no one talked. Sam was extremely uncomfortable with the attention, and absentmindedly ran his rag over the chair he was cleaning. More to fill the void of silence, he asked the Devil, "You've had a breach?"

"Three actually. All recent. It's become something of a concern."

Sam couldn't have stopped the sarcasm if he'd tried. "I can't possibly imagine why."

The Devil chuckled. Without turning around, he summoned one of the overseers behind him. "Ariel." The demon moved forward and kneeled by his chair. "Remove the other souls. We have no need for them now." Ariel bowed, and motioned to his staff. They herded the souls through the doors into the antechamber, and then left themselves.

This left Sam alone with the Devil and his court. The very quiet court.

The Devil appeared to be waiting for Sam to continue asking questions. Sam kept his attention on him. "Is this latest breach how Gainer escaped?"

"Unfortunately, yes. As you know, Melissa paid the price." The Devil gave him a pleased look. "But fortunately, due to you her sister and son did not."

Sam was confused. Wasn't the situation serious? He asked the question on his mind. "So how come I'm here and not out trying to catch the other escaped souls?"

Before the Devil could answer, the demon sitting to his right spoke. "My Lord?"

"Forgive me, Beelzebub. Where are my manners?" The Devil looked apologetic, but Sam didn't believe for one moment he meant it. "May I introduce you all to Samuel Oliver." The Devil gestured at Sam. "He's head of the Seattle Division." The Devil winked at Sam. "A promotion, Sammy."

The silence was broken. Sam saw many of the demons whisper to each other, but couldn't hear what they said. Almost all looked at him stunned, as if his name was the last thing they'd expected to hear.

The demon giving the report tried to regain his ground. He pretended as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Uh, as you know, soul-catching is problematic since predicting how most souls will react once they return to the earthly plane is incredibly difficult. The torture they've endured here has destroyed most of their ability to think and act in a logical pattern. They rely entirely on instinct, and accordingly are nearly impossible to track."

Sam stared at him incredulous, his tiredness completely forgotten. Then he did the unthinkable. He argued back.

"Bull. They're perfectly capable of acting in a rational manner. It's how you can track and interrupt them before their next strike, and before they can hurt anyone else."

"What do we care about the danger these souls represent back on the earthly plane?" One of the overly tall demons glared fiercely at Sam. This new demon oozed malice and evil. He exuded almost as much power as the Devil himself.

"I care." The Devil leaned towards the new speaker. "Or don't you remember, Leviathan?" Everyone was watching the argument like it was some sort of bizarre tennis match.

Leviathan wasn't cowed. "You are allowing a slave to disrespect a member of my staff. This disrespects me."

"But he's wrong," Sam insisted, pointing to the other demon. "Granted, you sometimes have to do some research to find the - "

"Enough, Sam." Everyone stilled, and the Devil turned to Leviathan. "I'm sure Sam can elaborate more on ideas on how to improve your performance once you start attending his meetings."

Sam turned to stare aghast at him. "What?"

Without sparing him a glance, the Devil directed him. "Sam, go finish your duties outside."

"But - "

"Now."

That brooked no argument. Sam immediately left the room, trying not to fall in his haste.

* * *

Chaos reigned. The second Sam had left, the room had erupted in fury. Voices competed with other voices trying to gain dominance of the conversation. Lucifer sat back and watched the fun. 

"Sam Oliver is here?" "How did he get in?" "How long has he been here?" "Did you see what he did?"

After watching his staff scramble for awhile, Lucifer raised a hand to silence them. "Beelzebub?"

Beelzebub leaned back, impressed. "Interesting move, my Lord. So Sam Oliver has finally come to Hell. At least now we know why you chose here as the meeting place. The boy is obviously not ready to experience outside this reality yet."

"You would be surprised what the boy is ready for."

"He's in Hell and he still says 'thank you'." Beelzebub countered.

The Devil chuckled. "It's one of his more endearing traits. But you are correct. I am easing him in."

But others were not so understanding. Leviathan thundered. "And what entrance did you use to sneak him in, Lucifer? You know our spies were waiting to alert us to his presence when he finally arrived."

Lucifer shrugged. "So I went around you. Sue me."

"I am a Prince of Hell. I fell from Grace with you. My loyalty has never been questioned. And you now tell me I have to listen to a _slave_?" Leviathan spat.

"_That _slave brings in better numbers than any of the departments, particularly yours." Lucifer became quite threatening. "You might keep that in mind when speaking to me about him. Especially if you believe keeping _your _kingdom is in _your _best interest. Exactly how many reapers did you lose before I finally took Neesam off your incompetent hands?"

Asmodeus put a hand on Leviathan to calm him, then turned to his master. "My Lord, forgive us. The presence of this child in our midst so early and so unexpectedly has come as quite a shock. You've brought him here before he has even died. Please forgive those of us who need a moment to adjust. Of course the boy's opinions are important, since we all know the price you paid for him. You would not do that for just any human soul. We are, of course, more than willing to embrace his ideas. But does that mean we cannot question them?"

"Question them all you want, Asmodeus." Lucifer exuded a menacing power that made all remember exactly why he was in charge. "Question me never."

Azazel leaned forward. "So it's true he's the one who captured Neesam?"

Lucifer considered him. Then he confirmed, "In less than ten hours."

Several demons looked astonished. "That's quite the accomplishment," Azazel remarked. Leviathan looked mutinous.

Astaroth affected a warm smile that didn't reach his eyes. "My Lord. I would be more than happy to take the child under my wing and look after him during his stay. He must be scared, and due to his - " he paused, " - _position_, may inadvertently be subject to unfortunate treatment by unaware personnel. I know you would wish to avoid that, but I fear for him since he does bear all the markings of a common slave."

"No. As tempting as your offer is, Astaroth," Lucifer returned the false smile, "you'll find you do not need to worry about Sam." If the demons in the room were surprised by this answer, they knew better than to show it. No one wanted to be accused of questioning the Boss, even if everyone in the room knew how many would love the opportunity to cause harm to the new arrival.

Lucifer stood up. Everyone else rose in respect. He looked at his staff and threatened them. "I want my souls back. Do it or suffer the consequences. I suggest you consider what the boy has to say when you meet with him. All Princes and Seraphim will attend until we have returned to the new target. You may decide if there is anyone else you would like to bring."

He appraised the room before adding a final warning. "And when I find the source of the breaches, any betrayer will suffer my **full **wrath." The fear in the room was blatant as the demons bowed to him. "This meeting is over. I trust I've made my point."

Suddenly they heard a large crash outside, followed quickly by a string of curses in what was unmistakably Sam's voice.

As all around him stared in disbelief, Lucifer laughed with a level of joy they hadn't seen in eons. "Worth every penny. I would have paid any price."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Thank you once again pace, for your awesome help. I really ought to just macro that to the top of every chapter. Also, thank you again for all the comments.

* * *

Perfect. Just perfect. As soon as he'd left the chamber hall, it'd taken Sam all but two seconds to realize he'd been set up. Again. He wanted to strangle someone, preferably the Devil. In the last few days, he'd lost his girlfriend, been sent to Hell, and apparently just been used to teach the upper level demons some sort of lesson. Somehow Sam didn't think that last one was going to make his life any easier. 

This sucked. Especially since Sam was pretty sure things could still get worse.

He'd been so frustrated at the Devil's scheming, he'd thrown one of his patented fits of temper until he'd accidentally knocked over the bucket full of cleaning supplies, sending brooms, mops, sponges, and soapy water all over the floor. Considering that now all the demons were suddenly staring at him like he was some sort of disease they feared to catch, Sam hadn't been surprised when he hadn't been punished.

It had surprised him, however, when one of the demons reluctantly ordered a few of the souls to clean it up for him. Sam still helped, which earned him even more curious stares. They were just finishing when the doors opened and the Devil came out, followed by the remaining minions. Across the antechamber, an elevator with double doors opened instantly, and the Devil walked straight across to it.

"Sam, follow me."

"I would so rather not." He could not hide his resentment. The remaining demons gaped at his audacity, but as usual, the Devil just looked amused.

"Someone's cranky." The Devil teased as he entered the elevator alone. Then he gave a playful grin. "Well, more cranky than usual. C'mon, kiddo."

Sam pointed back to the boardroom. Most everyone was still staring at him. "I'm going to pay for that, aren't I?"

"Not nearly as much as you'll pay if you don't make these doors." Sam immediately sobered up. He knew he was already pushing his luck. Somehow avoiding the others in the room, he ran and barely made it in before the doors closed completely.

"Did you miss me, sport?"

Sam refused to answer. To his dismay, he realized his anger was disappearing. Instead, it was quickly being replaced by hurt.

It must have shown, because the Devil frowned. "Sam."

"You set me up."

"I really have no idea what you're talking about, Sammy."

"Don't lie to me. You made me suffer just so you could use me for some sort of sick game to teach your staff a lesson."

"True." The Devil looked contrite, but Sam wasn't fooled. He then lightheartedly poked Sam in the ribs. "Did you see the looks on their faces? Priceless."

"I hate you," Sam muttered, trying to twist away from him. "And I hate being a pawn in your games."

"Oh, Sam. Don't be so hard on yourself. You're a very good pawn. Besides, it's not like you can play the Queen position right now, even if you usually act like a girl. You're not formidable enough yet."

Sam glared at him, but didn't respond. Instead he asked, "Why did they seem to know my name?"

"Did they?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "You were there, same as me. You saw the reaction when you introduced me. All the whispering, pointing, and shocked looks. I bet it was part of your plan all along. No ordinary slave would do. Just me."

The Devil played innocent. "Sam, you're tired and not making any sense. All I saw were a series of upper level demons surprised by the fact an ordinary slave called them to task."

"Whatever." Sam knew the Devil was lying but decided not to push it. He changed the subject again. "What's 94 mean?"

The Devil appeared delighted Sam knew the term. "What do you think it means?"

Sam considered the question. "The demon in the break room said you were 'working at 94'. I'm guessing it has something to do with the souls." He thought carefully. "Does it mean that 94 is the percentage of souls you've managed to keep in Hell since the breaches?"

"Very good." The Devil beamed. "Normally, we operate at 99 or better. I keep a tight ship." He looked strict. "When business started booming, however, we started dipping down to as low as 98. That's when you came in." The Devil briefly patted Sam's shoulder. "But with the recent breaches, in addition to the usual trickles of escapees, we've fallen to 94 in a matter of days."

Sam looked worried. "That's not good."

"No, it's not." The Devil looked upward. Sam could only assume he was indicating Heaven. "You would not believe the grief I'm getting about it."

Sam looked at him, confused. "But you're the Devil. You can pretty much do anything. Can't you stop it?"

"There are plans in motion. I expect a resolution soon. But in the meantime, I need damage control. We need to return the escaped souls back to where they belong. That's your job. I want you to bring us back up to 99. I can deal with the rest."

Sam's exasperation knew no bounds. "And how exactly do you expect me to do that?"

The Devil just gave an enigmatic smile. "I'm sure you'll figure something out. Another reason why I love you, Sammy. You always get the job done."

Sam knew he wouldn't be getting any more information, so he surveyed the elevator. "This is a slow elevator for something so fancy."

"Not really. It's only as slow as I want it to be." With that, the doors immediately opened.

Sam's eyes widened. Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this. He immediately turned to the Devil and demanded, "What is this place?"

"Your pad! Isn't it cool? I decorated it myself." Giddy, the Devil entered the room. Although, to be fair, it was more of a penthouse. This place was nearly as large as the first floor of his parents' house. It had a kitchen, dining area, sunken living room, and separate bedroom. It even had a large window that currently showed the night sky. It was also richly decorated. The furniture was leather, there was a very large plasma screen on the wall, and Sam suspected every gaming gadget known to man was sitting on the shelves next to the TV. There was even a pinball machine.

The Devil swung around the room, acting like a kid in a candy store. "Look at everything I got you! This is primo stuff, Sam." He picked up a video game and gave Sam a wink. "Not even out yet. I even put the windows in special for you. I've programmed it to mimic a regular daytime/nighttime schedule. Thought it might make you feel more at home."

Sam felt a deep ache at the mention of home. Suddenly, everything he'd been through the last few days hit him at once. Sock may have thought this was seventh heaven, but Sam knew it was not. He didn't even want to think of all the strings attached to using any of this stuff.

"I'm not staying here."

"Sammy," the Devil warned, "don't be like that."

"I am not staying here." Sam repeated, more forceful this time. "You will not tempt me with all this."

The Devil turned serious. "_This _is your home. Get used to it. You're exhausted."

"Like you care."

"I'm gonna let that go, Sam. Much like your other transgressions tonight. You know for one how much I hate repeating myself to you." The Devil gave him a compassionate look. "You've been through a lot lately, and I understand. You didn't ask for this and no one is blaming you for being upset. But I'll be patient for only so long."

Sam resented the reminder that his life was no longer his own. He absently rubbed his wrists. The Devil looked concerned and walked over to him. He took Sam's hands and touched the bracelets. Instantly, the weight and irritation disappeared.

"Better?"

"Thanks," Sam grudgingly admitted. "But can't you take them off?"

"No. This is very important. You are a slave here, and subject to the rules. Always remember that. Do not wander around by yourself, and always do what you're told."

Sam nodded, showing he understood. After all, it wasn't that much different from his life with the Devil outside of Hell. Trying to get back into his good graces, Sam raised an eyebrow and gave a cynical look.

"So, a promotion, huh? I suppose it has nothing to do with the fact that I pretty much **am **the Seattle Division, right?"

The Devil smirked, then walked over to the elevator. The doors automatically opened, and he stepped in. Turning to Sam, he said, "Sleep well, Sam. I'll send someone for you in the morning."

Ignoring the temptations all around him, Sam headed to the bedroom. He had no idea how long he'd be allowed to sleep, and he didn't want to waste a minute of it. He opened the door, walked in, and turned on the light. The room was as opulent as the rest of the place. Sam didn't think he'd ever seen a bed so large. It was made of the darkest, richest wood, with panels of satin draped over and around it as a canopy. The sheets looked to be made of silk, and Sam would bet his last dollar the pillows and mattress were the softest money could buy.

In short, it was luxury personified.

Sam leaned tiredly against the wall. There was no way he would sleep on that bed. Gathering a ratty blanket he found hidden in the spacious walk-in closet, he laid down on the plush carpet in the room and tried his best to get comfortable. He fell asleep trying not to think of Andi.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Pacejunkie is the awesomemost person on the planet. Thank you for the billionth time for your help and suggestions. I swear, I should at least be past the half-way mark here, so I won't be bugging you for much longer.

Also, thanks again for the reviews! I'm glad people are enjoying this fic.

* * *

Consciousness came far too quickly. Something was hitting him. At first, his still sleep-addled brain thought he was being attacked by tennis balls. That is, until he finally opened his eyes and saw the truth. 

It was a dog head-butting him. Or what Sam assumed was a dog, since it was the smallest one he'd had ever seen. He hadn't been aware they could come that size. It couldn't weigh more than two or three pounds. Spike, the pint-sized dog the Devil had sent to help him go after The Butcher, was at least three or four times larger than this dog.

The animal staring at him now was also the ugliest thing he'd ever seen. Obviously some type of Chihuahua, the small thing sat only a foot away from him, twitching and growling.

Then it head-butted him again.

"Ow! Knock it off! What the hell are you doing?" The dog barked, except it wasn't so much of a bark as an annoying yap. Then it grabbed his shirt and started to tug.

"Get off!" Sam tried to shoo it away, which considering its size was a lot harder than it should have been. The thing was tenacious. Finally letting go, the dog ran over to the master bathroom and started to yap again.

Sam rolled on his back, covered his head with an arm, and groaned. He was happy he wasn't hung over while listening to the Chihuahua's bark. It was annoying enough sober. Finally getting the picture, Sam looked at the dog. "Alright, alright. I'm guessing you're my wake up call. You want me to shower? Is that it? Fine."

Sam got up off the floor and went to get something to wear. He'd been thrilled last night to see all his own clothes hanging next to the highly fashionable outfits that otherwise filled the closet. At least that was one thing he wouldn't be forced to accept while he was down here. He quickly showered and got dressed.

It wasn't long before he heard the Chihuahua start up again, and Sam stepped out of the bathroom to see the dog waiting. It even seemed to be impatient with him. It scratched itself and then turned to go into the main room. Sam followed it into the kitchen.

"Of course. Most important meal of the day, right?" Sam said sarcastically. "I mean, got to have enough energy to spend another fun-filled day in Hell, don't we?"

Sam found some cereal in one of the fully stocked cabinets, and some milk in the refrigerator. He got a bowl out and sat down at the table. He poured some breakfast out and began to eat.

As he was eating, he studied the dog sitting on the floor watching him. The thing kept acting like it was perpetually suffering from static electric shocks. "Twitchy little thing, aren't you? Too bad you can't tell me your name." Then Sam realized that maybe things were different in Hell. He eyed the dog suspiciously and said, "You can't, can you?" The dog said nothing, so Sam just shrugged. "Worth a shot."

As soon as Sam was finished, the dog jumped up and ran in a circle, like it was chasing its tail. Sam put the bowl on the floor for the dog. "Do you want the milk?"

The dog stopped abruptly, tilted its head, and lifted an ear in surprise. Sam got the impression that putting the milk down wasn't what the dog had wanted or expected him to do. But it tentatively walked over and took a couple of laps anyways. When Sam was sure the dog was done, he put the dishes in the sink and then followed the dog to the elevator. However, when the doors opened and the dog ran in, Sam didn't follow.

"I can't go. I'm supposed to wait for someone to come get me."

The dog just stared at him.

"I'm sorry, but the Devil specifically said he'd send someone for me. I'm not supposed to wander around on my own." He held his bracelets up. "See? I'm a slave. I can get into a lot of trouble."

If Sam didn't know better, he'd swear the expression on the Chihuahua's face was disbelief. It sat down and gave him a look that seemed to say it thought Sam was an idiot. Feeling stupid, Sam said, "Oh. Right. Sorry." Resigned to the day ahead, he stepped into the elevator and the doors closed.

They opened up again almost immediately, but not into the antechamber from yesterday. This place looked like a warehouse. It was clearly a large office. There were several rows of desks, with a soul chained to each one doing what looked like paperwork. They all looked miserable at the tediousness of their jobs. Unlike the majesty of the other rooms Sam had been in, this place was dreary. There a gloomy pall, and the lights were fairly low.

The Chihuahua bolted out of the elevator. Sam stepped out also, to be immediately met by one of the demons overseeing the souls.

Looking at the dog, the demon grinned. "Morning, Kiwi. See you're herding only one this time. Can't remember the last time that happened, or the last time you came in through this entrance for that matter. Did he give you any problems?"

Kiwi barked, and the demon looked disappointed. "Pity." The demon eyed Sam's bracelets. His tone was filled with disgust when he asked, "Oliver, Sam?"

Sam nodded. The demon turned around and started walking down an aisle between two rows of desks.

"Follow me."

The demon walked very fast. As Sam struggled to keep up, he noticed the souls glancing up to watch him inquiringly. The other demons quickly squashed that, however, and the souls were forced to return to work.

To Sam's surprise, they didn't stop at any of the empty desks. Instead the demon he was following turned left at the end of the extremely long aisle, then walked past dozens of more rows of desks, straight to an out-of-the-way door in the corner. The door had a handwritten sign that said "Sam Oliver" taped to it.

"Your office."

Sam started. He couldn't have heard that right. "I have an office?"

The demon gave a smile that looked like he was in on some joke against Sam. It made Sam extremely uneasy. The demon adopted a tone so falsely sweet it could have been used for sugar. "Sure." He gave Sam a laugh and sneered. "Have fun." Then he opened the door and pushed Sam in.

Only the low light from the warehouse lit the room. Sam looked around, confused. The room looked empty. He fumbled on the wall for a switch, then turned the lights on.

As soon as the lights came on, Sam desperately wished they hadn't. Now he knew what the demon had found so funny. While the room was devoid of furniture, it was anything but empty. Lined up against the walls were stacks and stacks of files. Each stack was taller than he was, and Sam quickly estimated that he must be dealing with tens of thousands of files, if not more. It didn't take much of a leap to conclude that each file must be that of an escaped soul.

Sam didn't know whether to scream or to cry. He settled for losing it. Attacking the only blank wall, he fumed to the empty room at large. "I know you're listening, you big coward! Too chicken to tell me yourself? 'Just a little while, Sam.' 'You can go back home when your job is done, Sam.' And when will **that **be, huh? When I'm as old as you?"

He swung around to see Kiwi sitting at the doorway entrance. Sam glared. The little dog just stared back. Then it walked over to a stack of files, lifted its leg, and peed.

Sam glared up at the ceiling. "I hate you. So much." He then turned back to the dog and griped, "I said I was sorry when I messed up about not realizing you were my escort this morning."

Energy expended, and with nothing else to do, Sam walked over and picked up a bunch of files. Hanging his head and sighing, he sat down on the floor and began to read.

* * *

Hours later, two demons gathered. They were looking at Sam's office and could see him through the open door. Sam was still sitting on the floor, only now he was surrounded by small piles of the cases, and was writing something on a notepad. It looked like he was organizing the files into some sort of system. 

"Should we tell him?"

The other demon kicked his friend. "Are you kidding me? And miss all the fun?"

"But they're waiting."

"So?"

"_They're waiting,_" the first demon stressed.

"Yeah, I know. Great, isn't it?"

"Do you think he even knows?"

"Does it matter? I doubt they'll care."

"Have you even seen him come out?"

"Only twice. The first time, Kiwi shooed him back. I think he was looking for some supplies. I saw the dog bring a box of pencils to him. The second time he searched for some food. Kiwi helped him again."

The first demon looked worried. "I think we should tell him. I don't want to be the one who gets into trouble for this."

At that, another demon wearing a DMV uniform marched right past them, heading straight for Sam's office. She had a no-nonsense attitude, and the two demons scattered to get out of her way.

"Sam!" she yelled.

Sam must have been absorbed in his work, because he didn't even look up. He had a pencil dangling from his mouth. "Mmm?"

"Get up! You're late!"

At this, Sam looked up. "To what?"

Gladys looked flabbergasted. "Your meeting, you moron. The High Lords are all waiting for you."

Suddenly, Sam remembered what the Devil had said yesterday in the chamber hall. A look of panic crossed his face. "Crap!" He scrambled up. "That's _now_? Gladys, I don't know where to go."

Gladys rolled her eyes in exasperation, then grabbed an arm and started dragging him to a nearby elevator.

"Wait!" Sam swiveled out of her grasp, then ran back to his office. He grabbed some of the piles while Gladys watched in disbelief. He then ran back to her.

"What if I can't do this?"

"Too bad," Gladys told him firmly. Then she pushed him into the elevator.

The doors shut, and she turned around to see the first two demons staring at her. She sighed and leaned heavily against the wall. Looking at them both she shook her head. "No. I don't know how he's managed to survive for so long."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: P.A.C.E. I hope it's a least a little better.

* * *

As soon as the elevators doors opened, Sam very much wanted to find a place to hide. 

Unfortunately, that wasn't an option. The doors had opened directly in front of the High Lords. All were sitting on one side of a half circular table. Sam estimated there must be around twenty of them. On the other side of the table was a lone chair, which was more of a throne. Sam quickly realized the room he was in must be a regular meeting room for the Devil and his highest administrators.

The room looked and felt like a dungeon. It was stone and barely lit. The only light came from torches on the far back wall, by the other end of the table. The shadows that played against the wall made Sam want to shake in fear. Like the one demon who had delivered his contract that one night at the Work Bench, the shadows cast by these demons were anything but human-like.

Sam recognized several of the demons from the chamber hall. The closest one was Leviathan, the demon he'd inadvertently insulted. Leviathan was looking at him with such hatred Sam could practically see the waves of hate emanating off the demon.

What was worse was that unlike the table back in the chamber hall, this table was huge. It was obviously made for the larger demons. Even the demons who looked regular height seemed to fit at it comfortably, although Sam didn't know how that was possible.

This place was built to intimidate, and in Sam's opinion, it was working.

"You're late."

Sam recognized the speaker as Beelzebub, the demon who sat to the right of the Devil back in the chamber hall. Beelzebub was sitting all the way at the far end, looking very much like he was in a position of power over all the other Lords at the table. Sam thought maybe he was the Devil's second-in-command. Wonderful.

Sam tried not to tremble under the harsh gaze. "I'm sorry."

"You have kept the High Lords of Hell waiting. That does not happen, unless you are the Boss himself, which you are not. This is your meeting. Did you not remember the time you set it at?" Beelzebub's menacing tone clearly implied he already knew Sam's answer would be no.

Sam answered anyways, since technically, this wasn't his fault. He couldn't forget something he never knew in the first place. "I didn't set the time, the Devil did. And I'm sorry, I forgot to ask him last night. We were, uh, discussing other things." Sam shifted anxiously before adding, "Not that I really think he would have told me anyways."

Beelzebub scoffed. "I doubt that. Why would the Boss not tell you the time of a meeting he wished you to lead with the High Lords?"

Sam could not stop the small snort as he awkwardly stood in front of them. "You mean, why wouldn't he actually be helpful? Where would the fun be in that? No, 'the Boss' pretty much just throws me in with the sharks and expects me to swim."

To Sam's surprise, the lone female demon actually chuckled. "That does sound like the Boss."

"Regardless, Lillith, this behavior is unacceptable, particularly coming from a slave." Beelzebub turned back to Sam. "Should we decide to let you live, see to it that it does not happen again."

Now _this _Sam understood. As much as he hated to admit it, the Devil did look out for him. Sam had even once called the Devil out on his own bogus death threats. Sam suspected this may even be the reason the Devil didn't tell him the meeting time in the first place, just to put him in this position so that he would stand up for himself.

Sam mentally added this to the ever growing list of crap he was going to give the Devil when he saw him again. He could almost fill a book the size of his contract at this point.

Realizing the Lords were waiting to see his response to the warning, Sam respectfully shook his head in his endeavor to apologize. "No. No, sir. I won't keep you waiting again."

Beelzebub gave a subtle look of arrogance. It was clear he thought he'd managed to intimidate Sam.

Sam looked again around at the room, and suddenly it all made sense. Maybe they thought that if they intimidated him enough, he'd be too scared to try and tell them what to do. This was, after all, _his _meeting and not theirs. The Devil had been clear on that. Sam could imagine how degrading it might feel for any High Lord of Hell to be ordered to have to listen to a mere slave.

However, failure wasn't an option for Sam, no matter how scared he was.

He took a deep breath and steadily held Beelzebub's gaze. Then Sam tried to choose his next words carefully. "I'm really very sorry I was late, and I'm really sorry the Devil has forced you into something you don't want to do. He does that a lot to me too. He's a real douche that way." Sam slightly grimaced, wondering if criticizing the Devil in front of his highest staff was really such a good idea. Oh well, too late.

Pushing on despite the faux pas, he continued. "But I know you're not going to hurt me. The fact that you're here despite that I'm some lowly slave, tells me you answer to **him**. And I know he won't like it if you damage one of his toys before he does."

Everyone looked taken aback, and Sam heard several hisses of surprised gasps. Apparently, the Devil's comment back in the chamber hall that Sam could look after himself wasn't as implausible as the rest of the room had believed at the time.

Beelzebub recovered first, leaning back in his chair and appraising Sam thoughtfully. At length he said, "Sit." Sam suspected he'd just passed some sort of test.

Not knowing what else to do, Sam gave an awkward half-bow. "Thanks." He hesitated before going over to the table, however. The only seat was that of the throne, and no way would he sit there. Luckily though, there was a footstool at the end of it. Sam walked over and picked it up. He sat it next to the table and kneeled on it in order to reach the top of the table easier. Then he set the folders down.

He looked up to see all the demons watching him carefully. Although they said nothing, Sam got the feeling that by rejecting to sit in the throne, he'd just passed yet another unseen test.

The large demon sitting directly across from him leaned forward into view. "How did you retrieve Neesam when so many others failed?"

Sam was puzzled. "Others went after Neesam?"

"Asmodeus," Beelzebub cautioned.

Asmodeus acknowledged the admonishment, but didn't deter. "Still, I desire to know."

The secrecy made Sam curious, but he knew better than to ask. He answered the question instead. "You, uh, know Ted Bundy?" Sam quickly wanted to smack himself for his idiocy. "Yeah, stupid question. Don't answer that. Anyways, Bundy always chose as victims girls who looked like the one who had once rejected him."

"How did you learn that?"

The truth was, Sam had learned it from Josie. She had regaled them all with stories of all the serial killers when they had finally started covering them in her law classes. She'd been working for her recent promotion to trying murder cases since the day she'd graduated from law school. Sam pushed the memory of his last meeting with her out of his mind. Even though they'd argued, he still missed her. She was still his friend, and she was still a reminder of _home_. Sam hoped someday he'd be able to apologize to her.

Sam also figured it wasn't wise to tell the other demons about his personal life, let alone his friends. They were in danger enough with just the Devil knowing about them.

"Must have been in a book I read," he covered quickly. "At any rate, I think Neesam had serious Mom issues and was doing something like the same thing as Bundy. His file had a picture of him and his mom. She had short red hair. So did the three victims the Devil showed me, as well as most of the prostitutes he picked to kill when he was alive. There aren't many prostitutes around with hair like that. So I found one close to the address where he was originally arrested for soliciting prostitution and kept an eye on her until he showed up. Which he did a couple of hours later."

Sam was gratified to see a few impressed faces, even if he suspected it was a grudging admission. He decided now might be a good time to get down to business.

"Look, I know the Devil likes to bust on me about only getting 600 on my SATs, but he likes to conveniently ignore the fact that the only reason I got that score is because I didn't want to take the test in the first place, so I filled in all the As." He made a face. "I really hate those scantron tests."

Sam made sure he had everyone's attention at this point. "But the one thing standardized testing did teach me is that you go for the easy questions first. They make up most of the test and take the least amount of time. You can get them done fast. _Then _you go back and get the harder ones, especially the ones who are going to need more in-depth research. Something more than what you'll find in the files."

No one said anything, but Sam knew he had their full attention. With the silence, though, he did start to lose his courage a little. He indicated the cases piled in front of him and pushed on anyways.

"I think these files are going to be easy catches, so we can get them out of the way first. I put notes on each one to help out. I'll keep slogging through the files so that maybe we can bring the number up from 94 faster than if we just went after them one at a time without any type of system." He then pushed the small stack of folders towards the center of the table and waited for the reaction.

Several of the High Lords gave each other glances. Sam got the impression they were digesting what he'd said and whether it was worth listening to. The longer the files sat untouched in the middle of the table, the more nervous he got.

He tried to anticipate what he thought the problem was. "I'm sorry there aren't many of them right now. I'm sure the Devil will ride my ass for that. I'll try and get more done for tomorrow."

That earned him yet another careful appraisal from the table at large. They seemed surprised he had apologized before they had even mentioned it. Finally, several of them gave slight nods to Beelzebub, and Asmodeus leaned forward to take the files.

"These will do for now." Asmodeus assured him.

"I, uh, really don't have anything more to add. Like I said, I'll try and get more done for tomorrow. I'll also try and work on a better plan to get the harder cases." Sam looked at Beelzebub. "May I go now?"

Most of the demons turned to Beelzebub as well. Sam was rather getting used to the looks of curiosity he kept gathering. Despite the earlier power struggle, Sam knew who was really in charge of the room.

Beelzebub nodded. "Of course."

"Thank you."

Sam got up and put the footstool back. Then he hurried into the elevator as fast as he could, while trying to maintain as cool a composure as possible. After he left, the room remained silent.

Finally, Lillith spoke. "I cannot remember the last time a human could measure up. You didn't affect him at all, Beelzebub. And yet, he handled himself well with us. I believe I'm beginning to understand what the Boss sees in him. He may very well be the one to bridge the gap."

To the surprise of no one, the rest of the gathered assembly gradually nodded in agreement. Only Leviathan maintained his resentment.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I forgot last chapter until too late to thank people for their reviews. Sorry. And thanks!

* * *

The newest slave assigned to the office warehouse was causing quite a stir, and he hadn't even arrived yet for the day. The mere fact that he even _left _for periods of time was enough cause for conversation, but today's activities promised to provide something to talk about for centuries to come. 

Because standing outside the door to the slave's office was a group of around ten demons waiting for him. Including two High Lords.

One thing was for certain: the demon overseers all agreed they'd never seen anything like it before.

At the far end, the doors to the elevator Sam used opened. Everyone watched as he stepped out, completely engrossed by whatever he was reading in the file he was holding. A backpack was slung over his shoulder, and a tiny dog ran out in front of him.

Sam mechanically followed the dog all the way down the long aisle, then turned left towards his office, never once looking up. This caused him to nearly step on the Chihuahua, which had come to an abrupt stop when it saw the group standing by the office door.

"Dammit, Kiwi! This is the third time this morning! I swear if this keeps up I'm going to get you a helmet or some - "

Sam had finally spotted the party waiting for him. More important, he saw Asmodeus and Lillith, who both looked displeased they had needed to wait.

Sam visibly paled. "Please tell me I'm not late."

Kiwi barked. Both High Lords looked at the dog, then Asmodeus spoke. "No. You are not late. We were apparently given the wrong time schedule." At this, the female demon standing next to Lillith flinched.

Sam relaxed in relief. "Oh, thank God. Er, goodness. I mean, thank goodness. I would never say - "

"Samuel."

He had to learn to stop babbling. "Yes?"

"Lillith and I have convinced several of the other High Lords to assign you some researchers to help go through the files."

Sam was surprised to notice Jim, the demon Gladys had flirted with, standing in the group. Jim gave an expression that clearly said he was anything but happy to be here. All the other demons showed pretty much the same face as well. Sam suspected taking orders from a slave was not something they were prepared to do, even if they had been assigned. He wondered how the High Lords thought this was help.

"Have you got the souls from yesterday yet?" Sam asked.

Lillith nodded. "We had 100 percent retrieval within an hour, once the information was relayed to the appropriate channels."

"Thanks. I'll mark them off then."

They all turned as the elevator nearest the office opened up. Two demons stepped out. One was obviously a High Lord.

"Astaroth." Asmodeus looked surprised.

"Asmodeus, Lillith." Astaroth greeted back. "We went to meet you, but were told you left already. Given the wrong schedule?"

Lillith gave a tight smile. Sam noticed it didn't reach her eyes.

Astaroth looked smug. "Perhaps next time you'll listen to me, since I am the one who has the most experience with the humans. I told you he was most likely on a different time schedule."

Astaroth spied Sam and gave a more reassuring smile. He gestured to the demon who came in with him. "Sam, this is Bob. I've assigned him to your staff." Bob held the same hard-faced expression as Jim and the others.

The other High Lords didn't waste any more time. They quickly introduced Sam to the rest of the demons. Once their job was done, Asmodeus put a hand behind Lillith and guided her to the elevators.

"We will leave you now so that you may start your work. We will await your report at the meeting later," Asmodeus told Sam.

Astaroth went to join the other two. "Well, I only came to make sure Bob knew where to go." Before he got on the elevator he turned back to Sam. "Sam, if there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm usually the one the humans go to when they need advice."

Sam knew better than to trust a demon. He stayed polite, however. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

The doors closed, and Sam turned back to see his new staff glaring at him with intense dislike. He looked down at Kiwi, who raised an ear towards him and twitched.

Sighing, Sam said resignedly, "Might as well go and get this wonderful day started already."

* * *

"Judy? Can I ask you a question?" 

Judy huffed and put her folder down. "What?" she said impatiently.

Sam hesitated. He'd already been turned down by three other demons in search of the answer to his question. No one seemed to want to help him, even though Sam was pretty sure they knew the answer. He worried he was about to strike out a fourth time.

"I was just, uh, wondering if you knew what these symbols mean." He pointed to two symbols on the top of the folder he was holding. One was in blue, the other in red. "I'm trying to see if there's another pattern that might make our job easier."

"No, I don't know what they mean," Judy said curtly. "Sorry, I can't help you."

Sam suspected Judy wasn't sorry at all. Great. He had help, but they were turning out to be barely any help at all.

"Thanks," Sam said, discouraged. "I'd like you to record them anyways, please. Just in case."

Judy just scowled at him. She made no move to pick up a notepad in order to follow his instructions.

Sam looked around and saw Jim going through one of the stacks at the end. He seemed to be searching for certain cases to pull out. He had quite a few picked out already.

Sam walked over and tried to make an attempt to bond. Maybe that would thaw the ice that seemed to permeate the air. He used his most polite voice. "So, are you and Gladys an item?"

Jim snorted and didn't bother to look up. "I was under the impression you knew her. If so, then you should already know the answer."

"Yeah, of course. Stupid question." Sam tried to backtrack. Obviously he'd picked the wrong topic. "Gladys in a relationship would be a lot like Hell suddenly being fun. It just doesn't happen."

That actually earned him a smile and a chuckle. "You do know her then." Jim appraised Sam, then turned back to the stack he was going through. Without looking at Sam, he tried to act casual.

"I don't, uh, suppose you'd tell me what you got for your soul?"

Sam had seen this coming. He had wondered how long it would take someone to ask. He noticed the other demons shift, trying to overhear his answer.

"I didn't sell my soul."

Jim stopped what he was doing and eyed Sam's bracelets. "You obviously have a contract, so I don't know why you're bothering to lie. You shouldn't need to feel ashamed either. It must be a pretty sweet deal for you to be treated so well after the Boss collected you."

"Look," Sam told him stiffly. "I'm not lying. I never sold my soul. The contract wasn't _with _me, it was **for **me. The Devil bought me from my parents before I was born. The terms of the contract they signed said he could collect me as his property on my twenty-first birthday, which he did." Sam scowled at the memory. "I have to say, that birthday sucked big time."

He noticed that at this point the other demons gave up their charade of pretending not to listen. Sam saw they were all openly gawking at him now with avid interest.

"I capture escaped souls for him on Earth. That's my job until the day I die. I'm just here until we bring the number back up to 99. Then I can go back home." Sam glared at the files. "Even if it takes me the next decade or more in order to do it."

Sam took a deep breath to calm himself down. He hadn't meant to get so worked up.

He wasn't done griping though. "So I guess to really answer your question," Sam opened his arms and indicated all the stacks of files, "I got this lovely" - he put an extra sarcastic emphasis on the word 'lovely' - "gift, plus a lifetime subscription of perpetual annoyance personally delivered by the Devil himself."

The atmosphere in the room immediately shifted with Sam's revelation. No one said anything, but Sam suspected he wouldn't have problems with them anymore. Judy, as well as many of the others, turned back to their work, but their body language suggested they didn't seem to be bothered by it anymore. He even saw several of them pick up their previously untouched notepads.

Jim seemed to internally debate something. He must have made up his mind, because he went over, picked up a file, and handed it to Sam.

"Listen, those two symbols you were asking about. The blue one is the symbol for the recruiter, and the red is for the punisher."

Sam looked at the file, puzzled. "I don't understand. The recruiter?"

"Yes. When a human soul is…tempted, so to speak, the demon who is successful is the one listed as the recruiter. Most demons don't care which sin the soul most falls for - like Lillith. She'll go after anyone who shows an inclination towards evil. But some demons specialize more in one sin than others. My boss, Leviathan, likes sinners of envy. That's his symbol - in blue - on the file you're holding."

"Who are the punishers?"

"They are the Princes of Hell. Lillith is the sole Princess. They rule the kingdoms in the Outer Realm. While there are untold amounts of recruiters, there are only nine punishers, ten if you include the Boss. Asmodeus and Astaroth were here this morning with Lillith, and I understand you've spoken to Beelzebub as well. You also know my boss. The kingdoms go in order of importance. The First Kingdom is the least important. The Ninth is obviously the most - that's Beelzebub. There is constant warring between the Princes and Princess over dominion of the higher kingdoms. Everyone always wants more power. Our Lord Lucifer rules over them all."

Sam looked at the file in his hand. The blue and red symbols didn't match. "If Leviathan is the recruiter for this soul, then why isn't he also the punisher? He's a Prince."

"The Princes and Princess are equal opportunity punishers. They really don't specialize. However, Leviathan does take most pride in punishing his own. It is uncommon, but not unheard of, for sinners of envy to end up in other kingdoms. The punisher for the soul in the file you have in your hand is Berith. That's his symbol, in red."

Sam looked again at the file in his hand. He said thoughtfully, "You know, I've seen Leviathan's mark a lot - both in the red and the blue."

"He's a very prolific recruiter. But you've probably noticed his symbol more because he had a breach, along with Astaroth and Lillith. Leviathan's was the latest, and it was by far the largest. He's received a lot of criticism for it."

"Is that why he's in such a bad mood?"

Jim smirked. "No. He's in a bad mood because he's Leviathan."

* * *

Sam was right about the effects of his disclosure about his contract. For the rest of the afternoon, the others no longer complained about the notes he wanted them to make about the symbols. They also worked harder and treated him a lot better. It was nice not to see looks of disgust and resentment every time they talked to him. They also actually listened whenever he went to check up on how they were doing. 

After several hours, Judy came up to him. "Well, we're done for the day. See you tomorrow, Sam."

"What?"

Jim smiled. "Sorry, Sam. We clock out. Got to have a personal life. Don't have to be on the job all the time, y'know."

"No, I really don't know."

Jim laughed. "Yeah, I guess maybe you wouldn't."

The remaining demons all told Sam good-bye as they left. Sam watched them leave. "Thanks for your help today. See you tomorrow," he told them.

Jim stayed behind. He leaned over to Sam to confide in him. "I wouldn't rely much on Bob if I were you."

"He doesn't seem to get much done, does he?"

"He takes after his boss. Astaroth is the demon of sloth and laziness. He works best manipulating others to do his work for him. That's why it was so odd when he showed up himself. You must have really made an impression in that meeting yesterday, in order for three High Lords to make a personal appearance with you today, even if two of them are under a lot of pressure about their breaches."

"We all want the same thing though, don't we? To get the job done, and fast." Sam turned back to the files and sighed. "Man, I've still got a lot of work to do before I leave. I still need to go over everyone's notes. I want to check something out. It seems to me that every file Mammon recruited we seem to have labeled as easy catches."

"They would be. Mammon loves greed. All the reapers probably have to do to find those souls is throw money out, and the souls will voluntarily turn themselves in."

For the first time since landing in Hell, Sam grinned. "Seriously though, we should probably concentrate tomorrow on finding all Mammon's files then."

Jim considered him. "That's really not a bad idea, Sam."

Sam suddenly realized how much work they'd gotten done that day. "Wow. We did a lot today. I have no idea how I'm going to get all these files over the meeting."

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to one of the overseers. They'll get some of the souls to do it for you. C'mon. I've got some time to spare. I'll walk you over to get some food before your meeting."

* * *

It was late, and Sam was still absorbed in his work. He'd returned to his office after the meeting. He had no idea he was about to get yet another unusual visitor to show up in the warehouse in order to see him. 

The rest of the warehouse knew, however. They were currently in the process of scrambling from him. The well-dressed man that had stepped off the elevator at the far end was determined. He spoke to no one, and ignored the demons who tried to bow to him.

As he walked down the aisle, he threw waves of pain through random souls, but the sounds of their muffled screams didn't achieve their usual goal. He still wasn't smiling.

The man reached the end of the aisle, turned left, and headed straight for the open door in the corner. Through the door, Sam could be seen writing something on one of the walls, the notes from the day held loosely in one of his hands.

Kiwi saw the man, though, and started to twitch - only this time it was in fear. The dog barked to try and get Sam's attention.

Since Sam was concentrating only on what he was writing, he misunderstood the warning. "Relax, Kiwi. We'll go soon. I just want to finish this. I don't see what you're complaining about anyways. At least you've got a pillow to sleep on."

_"What do you think you're doing, Sam?"_

Sam looked up and froze. He'd seen this anger before. He looked around, confused. "What? What am I doing?"

The Devil was furious, and cornered Sam against the wall. "I told you to reduce the number of escaped souls. Not waste your time trying to make some statistical report. I have people for that."

"Yeah, I remember from the meeting." Sam went for the cheap shot. "I bet you can make some really informed decisions from people who don't get all their paperwork."

"You might keep in mind who you are talking to."

The Devil's anger was palpable, and even though he knew it was stupid, Sam chose to play with fire anyways. He was angry himself.

"Oh, believe me. I know whom I'm talking to. Where do you get off? I'm busting my ass for you, as usual! In case you haven't noticed, you threw me in here with no help to begin with. You've lied to me, manipulated me, and given me next to no information! And now you're pissed because I'm trying to figure out a way to do my job faster?"

The Devil angrily pointed to all the stacks still standing against the walls. "This doesn't look fast, Sam."

"Look, we've already nearly cleared enough for one full stack. What does it matter if I'm working on another idea? You should see this," Sam indicated the lists he'd started on the wall, "I can't quite figure it out. It's really odd -- "

"I'm not seeing anything other than _your _laziness. Maybe I haven't given you enough incentive to get this done, Sam. Perhaps going home quickly isn't _really _what you want. Maybe you need more time here in order to think about your priorities."

"What? No, wait -- " Sam made a desperate bid to stop what he knew was about to happen.

The Devil didn't care. He threw an arm towards all the remaining stacks of files and it was like a large invisible hand pushed them. The stacks immediately tumbled over and the cases crashed onto the floor, creating a disastrous sea of files a couple of feet deep. Kiwi barely managed to get out of the way.

Sam just stood staring at the mess in shock. "I didn't mean -- "

"Get to work, Sam," the Devil threatened. "The next time I won't be so nice."

If this was nice, Sam knew he didn't want to see cruel. There was nothing for him to say. Sam tried not to show any emotion so that he wouldn't give the Devil any more ammunition. He just surveyed the room, feeling dejected.

"And clean up this mess. **Now**."

Sam looked back at where the Devil had been, but he only saw Kiwi sitting there. The dog actually looked sympathetic. Sam looked out past the door and also saw a group of demons who had gathered to watch the confrontation. They also gave him looks of stunned disbelief. Disheartened, Sam wearily absorbed what had just happened.

He remembered what Jim had said about him earlier. Sam couldn't hide his hurt now that the Devil was gone. Then he kicked a couple of files in his frustration. "Yeah. I'm treated real well. Lucky me."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, and your patience. I'm sorry this chapter is so short.

* * *

"What the hell happened?" 

Sam jolted awake to see Judy standing angrily at the door, with most of the rest of his staff assembled around her. A file was stuck to the side of his face. He'd spent the night trying to put the files back in some sort of order. He had fallen asleep with his head on top of one of the many stacks he'd compiled.

"Whuh?" Sam sleepily looked around, then realized the file was still stuck to his face. He peeled it off.

"Sam, what happened?" Jim asked, concerned.

"Oh, uh, this. Yeah. I, uh, decided to rearrange things." Sam avoided their gazes. He knew the excuse was lame, but he couldn't handle admitting the truth. It had to be obvious from just seeing the disaster in the room. Several of his staff gave meaningful glances at each other, but thankfully chose to say nothing. Sam stood up and started picking up more files, continuing to try and organize them again.

Judy walked past him and surveyed the mess skeptically. "Well, I hope it helps."

Sam yawned and pondered the statement. "Y'know, I think maybe it will. I started putting them together for each of the punishers, since they're in charge of recovering their own escapees. It'll be easier for me to hand them out during the meetings if they're arranged beforehand. I also started making a pile of Mammon's and Azazel's recruits. According to our notes, we've been labeling them all as easy catches, so might as well just round them up now."

Kevin looked pleased. "I never argue when someone figures out a shortcut for actual work. Too bad Bob's not here. He'd bug you until you told him how you learned to do it so well. But as usual, he's late. Lazy ass."

Sam gave a half smile as he thought of Sock. Sam did learn shortcuts from the best. Sock would probably love to meet Bob. Two peas in a pod.

"I figured once I'm done sorting, we could each take a stack and go through it," Sam told them. "Obviously when the smaller stacks are done, those people can join the others. Leviathan's stacks are going to be a massive pain."

There was silence as they all looked at the files still on the floor, most of which they all knew would be Leviathan's.

Jim winced. "Yeah. That's gonna suck."

Sam was about to tell them all they might as well take off until he was done sorting, but before he could speak Edna gave a sour face.

"What is that smell?"

Everyone sniffed the air. Then they all turned to Sam.

"No offense, Sam, but you really need a shower." Edna smirked.

Embarrassed, Sam shook his head. "I can't. I have to sort the files."

Jim said, "No, we'll do that. Go. Get freshened up. Grab something to eat while you're at it." He turned to Kiwi. "We'll call him back when it's done." The dog wagged its tail in acknowledgement.

Sam shook his head again, this time more insistently. "No. I was told to clean up."

"Were you told to do it all by yourself?" Jim asked. Sam looked down. For the third time, he shook his head.

"Thought not. Sam, be realistic. It'll be faster if we do it. You've done enough for now."

"You don't understand - " Sam started to argue again.

Jim gave him a curious look. "Sam, I gave you an order and you know it."

"But - "

Then Jim turned stern. "Do as you're told. This is not worth getting punished for."

Sam flinched. It actually stung to acknowledge the command. "Right."

Jim tried to soften the order. "Thanks, Sam. Don't worry, we'll clean this up and then start going through the files when you return."

Sam gave a small smile in appreciation, then his stomach growled. Embarrassed, he said, "Yeah, uh, I'll just go now…See you, uh, later." He tried to act casual as he backed towards the door, and turned to follow Kiwi out.

After Sam was gone, Judy glared at Jim. "You weren't serious about doing this ourselves?"

Jim snorted. "Hell no. The souls'll do it. I was afraid Sam would actually _help _them though, and I don't want that. I think he feels sorry for the damned. He was pretty uncomfortable last night just watching them move the files."

Kevin whistled. "I have to say, I can't believe he kept arguing after you gave him that order. And even after you _reminded _him it was an order."

Jim looked grave. "Yes. He's showing a real loyalty to the Boss, isn't he? More so than one would expect, given his situation. I wonder how the Boss has achieved that. Sam was bound and determined to clean up this mess on his own."

"I've heard rumors about him. Do you suppose they're true?"

"Considering what he told us yesterday, Beatrice? Have you ever heard of the Boss subverting a human's free will? That's **huge**. Gladys has mentioned some odd things about him as well."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

Jim grinned. "How 'bout over breakfast. Anyone up for a trip to IHOP?"


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: This part actually took less time than I thought. For those wondering, everything should be wrapped up by the end. There are 3 more chapters left - assuming I don't get writer's block again and need to post it piecemeal again in order to get going. Thanks again for reading, and for the comments.

And I know you're busy, pace, but I thought I'd remind you this story is dedicated to you. You are after all the person I started writing it for in the first place. Thanks for all the help you've given.

* * *

Apparently, reorganizing the stacks wasn't good for morale. Sam had been called back two hours after he left, but when he arrived it was to a room full of impatience. Sam suspected it was because now everyone had a clearer idea of exactly how much work each of them had to do, and they weren't happy about it. 

Jim in particular, was in a severely bad mood. With Leviathan's stacks taking one full wall on their own, Sam really couldn't blame him. And Jim wasn't the only one. Everyone seemed to have a short fuse to even the smallest of inconveniences. Sam was still treated well by his staff - and in fact, they even seemed to go out of their way even more than usual to make sure he didn't bear the brunt of any outburst - but no one else could say they were immune to being on the receiving end of someone else's bad mood.

And there had been several minor skirmishes so far. Sam was getting a bit tired of being the referee. He wished he could put them in time-out. They were certainly acting like bad-tempered children at times.

To add to the atmosphere of irritation, Bob still hadn't shown up - and it was now nearly lunch time. Sam himself had been supremely annoyed about having to take over Astaroth's stacks, but with everyone else working on their own bosses' escapees, Sam was the only one left to do it.

At any rate, this now meant Astaroth's stacks would be catalogued like the rest of the files. Bob had refused to take notes yesterday. Sam had chalked it up to his laziness, and not any lingering resentment he might still have for working for a slave. At least, that's what Sam hoped.

For the countless time that morning, Jim cursed angrily under his breath. "Damn souls!" He made a quick glance at Sam, who wisely said nothing. Sam wasn't stupid. The stacks were far too neat for him to believe demons were responsible for the work.

Jim griped more loudly. "Yet _another _that's not mine. Here, Beatrice, this time it's one of yours."

Beatrice barely glanced at it before she returned it. "No, it's got Leviathan's symbol. It's yours, Jim."

Jim threw it back. "No, it's not mine. My boss only recruited the soul, he didn't punish him. He belongs to Asmodeus, Beatrice. Therefore he's _your _problem. I've got enough of my own work to do." He indicated his wall of stacks.

"Well, don't think for a minute I'm going to help you when I'm done, Jim." Beatrice snapped.

Sam saw a major fight brewing, so he interrupted them both. "Look, I know it's a lot of work. I'm not exactly dancing for joy myself. But we can get this done faster if we work together, and not against each other." He gave them both a pointed look. "And we are all stuck here until the **entire **job is done."

Beatrice still gave Jim an angry look, but she backed down. "The goal's 99, right? We've got to have at least raised from 94 to 95 with all we've done so far. Maybe 96."

"That would be nice." Sam started to relax.

That is, until Judy decided to speak. "No thanks to you, Beatrice. You're almost worse than Bob."

Just then Bob sauntered into the office, obviously in a good mood. "Hey all! Did I miss anything?"

Everyone glared at him.

Slumping against the wall, Sam sighed heavily. He could feel the headache coming on already.

* * *

Despite the tensions earlier in the day, Sam's meeting with the High Lords was going fairly well. He had been right. Separating the files into each of the punishers had helped a lot. For one, it finally meant that Sam had some good news to report. 

"So, we've managed to get through all of the cases for Beelzebub and Berith." Sam pointed to the small stacks in the back of the room, each labeled with a Prince's name. "We brought over all of them for you. The easier catches are separated from the harder ones. I figure now that you guys can get most of your stack out of the way, you can then have your reapers start devoting more time to finding the trickier cases and clear your load out faster."

Beelzebub looked impressed. "That will be done immediately."

"You should all also note that the piles might be a bit larger because we separated out all of Mammon and Azazel's recruits. We were finding them all to be relatively easy catches, so I just had them all pulled and labeled."

"Understood."

"Asmodeus, Verrin, Gressil, Sonneillon, we're almost done with yours too. I think maybe another couple of days. No more than a week."

"I will ensure my reapers are prepared. They are a little behind at the moment. I will provide more incentive to expedite the process," Asmodeus said. The other three indicated their agreement.

Sam didn't want to think about what the four might consider as 'incentive'. He'd had enough of that from the Devil. "Uh, thanks, I think."

He hesitated before continuing on. This was the hard part. "Moving on, Leviathan, Astaroth, and Lillith, your stacks are obviously going to take more time. Now that two punishers are done, their researchers are devoting their time to helping out the others. Astaroth, I'm handling yours right now; Jim, Edna, and Bob are working on yours, Leviathan; and Kevin and Fred are doing yours, Lillith."

Astaroth looked livid. "Why isn't Bob doing my share?"

Sam had expected this question, but not the intensity of Astaroth's displeasure. Sam rather thought it was a bit of an overreaction, but didn't say anything. Truth was, when Bob had finally arrived, Sam had suggested he go through Mammon and Azazel's files and make notes. He figured Bob would at least get _some _work done, if his job was made easier for him. The strategy had worked. Bob had finished before any of them, which had been yet another source of annoyance for everyone. Sam immediately fixed the problem by making another suggestion that Bob then help Jim.

Since he really didn't want to be the one to get Bob into trouble, he had prepared an excuse ahead of time. Sam gave a cautious glance to Leviathan, then gave a half-truth. "He and Jim were working too well together to break them up, so I recommended they both work on Leviathan's."

Leviathan leaned forward. He spoke quietly, but every word was laced with anger. "You've put three on mine?"

Sam took a breath and shifted nervously. "I'm really sorry, Leviathan. But it's turning out that your souls compose most of the files. Either the souls you're punishing, or the souls you've recruited. We're trying to get through them as quickly as possible, but to make matters worse, we keep finding misfiles in your stacks. You've recruited so many that we keep assuming you're the punisher, when in reality you're only the recruiter for several of them."

The room was suddenly very still. Sam had no idea what he'd just said, but he got the feeling it wasn't good.

It **really **didn't seem to be good for Leviathan. Whatever was going on, all the demons had turned to look at him with intense suspicion, and Beelzebub had started to radiate a power that threatened to overcome the entire room.

Leviathan responded in kind. This time Sam _could _actually see the waves of hate emanating off him.

Beelzebub very quietly told Sam, "Thank you for the information, Samuel."

Sam was very uneasy. He had a strong desire to leave as quickly as he could. "You're, um, welcome. Uh, can I please get the list of recovered souls before I go? I'm going back to the office, and I'd, uh, like to check them off tonight."

Beelzebub waved his hand, but kept his attention on Leviathan. "The files are waiting for you in your office. I've combined them from all of us. Once you are done, inform my assistant and he will arrange for them to be refiled."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

"You are dismissed, Samuel."

"Thank you." Sam didn't bother to put the footstool back as he fled the room.

* * *

Desks were highly underrated in Sam's opinion. To be honest, he'd never dreamed there would be a day when he'd give nearly anything to have one, but he was forced to admit that day had finally arrived. He was getting tired of always sitting on the floor. Right now, he was sitting next to the files of the recaptured escapees, with his back against the wall. 

Sam was almost finished marking each recovered soul off on his records, but he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd tried to mention to the Devil yesterday. He wished he could figure out what exactly he thought the problem was. All he knew was that something about the notes he and his staff were taking didn't look right.

Suddenly, his bracelets gave a shock and locked to the floor. "Ow!" He started struggling to release his hands.

"Name."

Sam looked up to see an overseer with a clipboard standing in the doorway. Still struggling, he answered. "Sam Oliver."

The overseer didn't seem surprised, and looked down on his clipboard. Sam recognized the demon from the group who had seen his confrontation with the Devil the previous night.

"Odd. I don't have your name on my list, but I know you're supposed to be here."

"I'm a slave, remember? I'm not supposed to have a name anymore."

"Ah," the demon said. "That's right. It's easy to forget with you." Then he wrote something down on his paper. Sam could only assume the demon was adding him to the list.

"I, uh, don't suppose you could please unlock me?" Sam tried to use his head to point to his hands. Then for good measure, he added, "Pretty please?"

A look of surprise passed over the demon. "Oh, sure. Hold on a sec. I didn't know the system was activated. We don't use it very often as there's usually no need with the slaves. They're too beaten into compliance. But I guess with what's happening right now, they deemed it necessary to lock down as many souls as possible." He pulled what looked like a small remote out of his pocket. He studied it for a second, then pressed a button. Instantly the bracelets unlocked from the floor.

"Thank you." Sam sighed in relief and rubbed his wrists. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

The demon looked at all the files in the room and considered him. To Sam's surprise, he then actually answered the question. "There's been another breach."

"Who?" Sam wondered if this had anything to do with what had happened in the meeting.

"Beelzebub this time. Fortunately, it was unsuccessful. No soul made it to the earthly realm." The demon acted like he wanted to tell Sam more, but he must have changed his mind. Instead he said, "We're doing a head count on all the souls anyways. Standard procedure. Is your herder here?"

Sam gestured to Kiwi, who was asleep on his pillow.

"Okay. Just stay here until you're given the all clear. It shouldn't be long."

"Thanks. I guess you'll know where to find me."

The demon just nodded. He threw Sam another curious glance, then left.

Sam mulled over what he'd been told. It made no sense Beelzebub was the target of a breach when last Sam had seen him _Leviathan _had been the one about to be attacked. That is, unless Leviathan had managed to gain the upper hand in the confrontation.

What the hell was going on?

Sam sighed. He wasn't going to figure it out without more information. With nothing else to do, he went back to his notes. Something really wasn't right. He flipped back through the papers. He found the list Edna had done for Berith, then traced a finger down the column of recruiters. Then he did the same for each list made for each punisher.

In an instant, Sam understood **everything**. This was why he'd been sent to Hell. A chill ran through him. "Oh my God." He had to tell the Devil. Immediately.

Sam knew his life was in a lot of danger. It probably had been since the moment he'd arrived days ago. And he was now trapped here in this room, defenseless - like a sitting duck.

He reached over and frantically shook Kiwi. "Wake up!" The dog must have realized his panic, because it wasted no time getting to its feet. "I need you to get help! Now, Kiwi! I've been ordered not to leave!"

Sam then yelled up at the ceiling. "I NEED YOU!"

"He's a little busy right now, Sam. Perhaps I can be of help instead."

Sam turned to see the visitor that had just materialized in the middle of the room, and his fear intensified into terror.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Sorry about the wait. Thank you for reading and for the reviews.

* * *

For the first time in his life, Sam desperately wanted his demon powers. Anything to help him. As annoying as it had been when things kept disappearing, the ability to make the demon standing before him vanish would be extremely useful right now. Hell, at this point he'd even take turning everything into bugs, because he could squash those. 

But that would make life easy, and Sam knew _that _couldn't happen.

Sam forced himself not to show any fear and tried to act casual. "Hey, Astaroth."

"Hello, Sam. So, how can I help?" Astaroth smiled warmly, but Sam knew it was a lie. The Prince standing before him had always made Sam think of an oily used car salesman, and since learning the truth, Sam knew his impression of Astaroth had been correct.

Sam tried to think fast. "Yeah, uh, no offense, but I really need to talk to him." When in doubt, go with the truth. "You know, 'cuz I'm his property and everything. He's, uh, pretty protective of his stuff. I think he'd get mad if I went to someone else."

Astaroth gave what Sam assumed was meant to be a friendly laugh. "It's okay, Sam. Don't worry. The Boss has asked me to look after you while he's busy. You may not know this about me, but I usually take the humans under my wing and help them out when they need it. The Boss knows he can entrust you to me."

"Uh, yeah…okay." Sam couldn't help his look of skepticism. "But you know, now that I think about it, it, uh, really wasn't all that important anyways. Yeah, definitely not worth bugging him about." He shook his head emphatically. "Definitely not. Thanks for the offer of help though, but I guess it turns out I really didn't need you."

Someday Sam swore he was going to work on his penchant to ramble. He finished lamely, "So…you can, uh, go now if you want."

The entire time he'd been talking, Sam had secretly been trying to gesture behind his back for Kiwi to get help. The dog must have got the hint, because it finally took off running.

Straight to Astaroth.

If Sam survived this encounter, he was going to enjoy plotting ways to make the dog pay for that. He watched as the little Chihuahua wagged its tail eagerly at Astaroth. Then it looked back at Sam, and lifted an ear.

The demon smiled down at the dog. Then he turned back to Sam and chuckled. "You're a terrible liar, Sammy. The Boss did warn us that you were overly suspicious of everything. I suppose that's understandable, given everything you've been through. But I told you, don't worry, you can trust me. C'mon kiddo," Astaroth gave a wide grin, "tell me what's going on."

The funny thing about fear, Sam realized, is that annoyance can quickly take its place. Astaroth's use of 'Sammy' and 'kiddo' greatly irritated him, to a degree far more intense than when the Devil did it. Sam didn't want to think about the reason why it felt different when the Devil used the same endearments.

Sam played innocent. He gave an exaggerated sigh, as if Astaroth had finally won him over. "Oh, alright. I guess it won't hurt to tell you. It's just about Leviathan and what happened in the meeting. I think he's the one behind all the breaches, including the one tonight."

"Ah," Astaroth looked smug. "I thought that might be it. You needn't worry, Sam. A war is being mounted against Leviathan as we speak. It turns out he _was _the mastermind behind the breaches, and even had one in his own kingdom so that he could both distract from his plans and take suspicion off himself. He has apparently been preparing an attack on Beelzebub in order to gain control of the Ninth Kingdom. You should be very proud of yourself, Sammy. Your keen observations are what gave him away at the meeting today."

Although Sam already knew the answer, he stalled anyhow. The more Astaroth talked, the more time Sam had to come up with a plan. He asked, "Was it because most of the escaped souls were his?"

"Yes. You see, Sam, Leviathan recruits no more than we other High Lords do. So when you mentioned that most of the files belonged to him in some way, that's what tipped us off. Leviathan has always had an affinity for his own recruits. When he orchestrated the main breaches, he obviously allowed more of his own to escape than what would be expected. He even took advantage of the usual trickles of escapees from the _other _kingdoms, by sneaking out even more of his recruits."

Astaroth laughed, and this time Sam believed it was genuine. The demon seemed quite proud. "It was a very ingenious plan, if you ask me. When a soul escapes, no one really ever thinks to check about the recruiter. The Boss in particular only really cares which punisher was incompetent, so that he can extract _their _punishment accordingly."

And with that, Sam saw his opportunity. He looked at Kiwi, who was still wagging his tail at Astaroth. He needed the dog to realize the Prince was not to be trusted, and he now knew how to do it.

Hopefully, he wouldn't be killed in the process. Surviving would be a definite plus.

Sam boldly asked the demon in front of him, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Astaroth stopped laughing and gave a puzzled look. "I don't understand, Sammy. Forgetting what?"

"That Leviathan's recruits escaped from every kingdom **except **yours. A minor detail you're leaving out, don't you think? And yet it kinda seems a _wee _bit important."

Instantly Astaroth turned cold. His warm persona completely disappeared. Even Kiwi stilled.

Sam dared to go on. "I mean - and you'll know it's kinda funny too - but in going through your files, I've noticed that not a single Leviathan recruit has escaped from _your _kingdom, even though scores of them have escaped from all the others. Don't you think that's a bit odd? I know I do, especially considering you've had a pretty hefty breach yourself."

Astaroth started to exude a power Sam would swear was immense hatred. The office started to chill, and the lights began to flicker.

Good. He'd gotten Astaroth's attention, and the demon was not pleased. Sam dared not look directly at Kiwi, but he covertly saw the dog start to slowly back up away from Astaroth and towards the door. Sam needed to keep the distraction up, in order to help Kiwi escape unnoticed.

Astaroth moved forward menacingly. Sam backed up nervously, nearly falling over a couple of stacks that were in his way.

"So you did figure it out, Samuel. I must say I am impressed. You are not as stupid as you appear. I knew when you were introduced in the First Hierarchy meeting that Lucifer had brought you here to uncover the betrayer. I suspected when you informed me that you were working on my stacks that it would not take you long to uncover the truth. Then Bob confessed you had been taking notes about all the recruiters and punishers since the beginning."

Astaroth gave an evil grin. "I must say, the manner of his death was quite _pleasurable _for me. After his admission, it became clear it was only a matter of time my deception would be revealed, once you organized the files into the separate punishers - that is, if you hadn't already discovered the pattern with your earlier notes."

Kiwi had nearly made it out, but then Astaroth quickly flicked his wrist. To Sam's horror, the little dog was flung away from the door and back into the room. Kiwi hit the back wall with such force it caused the wall to dent. The Chihuahua dropped down to the ground and remained still. Sam had no way of knowing if the dog was still alive.

"Kiwi!" Sam yelled and tried to go to the dog, but he too was flung to a side wall by an invisible force. Sam looked up to see Astaroth looking at him maliciously.

"Nice try. Too bad for your herder. I must say, though, it is no loss."

Desperately, Sam tried to distract the demon. He said frantically, "Someone will be here any second! I saw they were counting souls because of the breach! They haven't checked up on me yet!"

Astaroth tsked. "You're lying again, Samuel. You're a slave, you're on no list. And you've obviously already seen an overseer, or you wouldn't be unlocked. I had tried to use the breach as a cover to initiate the bracelets in order to immobilize you for easier capture, but apparently the demons in this warehouse are more competent than I thought."

"You know I always gather interest! If I don't leave soon, they'll come in to check. If I've disappeared, they'll know immediately what happened."

"Oh, no one will miss you Samuel, because there will be nothing to miss. Your body _will _be found, and Leviathan will be blamed, of course."

Astaroth laughed deeply, which made Sam even more afraid. "Meanwhile, I think I'll take you back to my kingdom to be _my _slave. Since you have no name or paperwork, no one will ever know it's you. Your soul will never be found, not even by our Lord himself. No one wants change, Samuel, so there will be few eager to look for you. Lucifer is making a big mistake bringing you here. So no, Samuel. No one will know what happened to you. You will be lost to the Outer Realms, and Leviathan will be held responsible."

Terror gripped Sam. "Your plan will never work." Sam made a last desperate attempt to avoid what was coming. "You should know the Devil watches over me. He knows everything I do."

"I think not. After all, I do not see him here protecting you now. You see, Samuel, the Boss is busy. I made sure of that. He's currently sending his army to aid Beelzebub with the attack on Leviathan. All the other High Lords are joining them, and my spies believe Leviathan is with his advisors, trying to salvage what he can. So you see, Samuel. No one is watching over you now."

"I am."

At the sound of the new voice, Astaroth spun around. "Leviathan," he spat.

Sam's hope sunk like a stone. Great. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Leviathan's size dwarfed Astaroth, yet Astaroth was obviously not afraid. Leviathan told him coldly, "As soon as I learned of the latest breach, I knew Samuel would be targeted by the true traitor. And look who he is."

Astaroth gave a malicious grin. "You really should be home defending your kingdom right now, my _friend_."

Leviathan threw a glance at Sam before answering. "Do you honestly believe the loss of a few insignificant minions matter more to me than the loss of Lucifer's alliance?"

"You've lost his alliance, Leviathan. I've seen to that. As we speak, he is gathering up his army to join with Beelzebub, Asmodeus, and the others in their attack upon you."

To Sam's surprise, Leviathan actually laughed. "Unlike you, Astaroth, I realize one must occasionally endure the loss of a battle. A minor defeat matters not, providing I ultimately win the war. You will not harm Samuel. I may not agree with Lucifer over his plans for this child, but that does not mean I will not follow them. My loyalty lies to our Lord, more than to my own ambition."

"Your loyalty?" Astaroth seethed. "I've destroyed your appearance of loyalty. You should have chosen your ambition and protected your kingdom. My manipulations are nearly complete. Soon Leviathan, you will be defeated in battle, and your kingdom will be ripe for the taking. I intend to be the taker."

"Wait a minute," Sam said incredulously, "You let evil souls escape and put innocent people on Earth - as well as the reapers - at risk just because of some stupid power struggle that you're not even waging yourself, but have tricked others into doing it for you?"

Leviathan turned and gave an amazed look at Sam for his inappropriately timed rebuke at Astaroth, but Sam immediately saw how the mistake would cost him.

"Leviathan! Look out!"

From Astaroth morphed two large dragon-like wings. What was worse was suddenly a large serpent coiled out from around his body, growing in size to nearly fill the room. The huge serpent lifted up into the air, then came down in a crushing blow, throwing Leviathan back into the warehouse where Sam could no longer see him.

Then the serpent turned to Sam. Sam tried to crawl behind the nearest large stack, trying to reach whatever protection he could get. He looked up to see the serpent above him, poised to strike.

But the serpent didn't strike. It gave a howl of pain instead, and turned to go back to its master. Sam peeked around the stack to see one of the strangest sights he'd ever seen - and for Sam, that was saying something.

Kiwi wasn't dead. It was taking the serpent on. The dog had grabbed hold of the middle of the snake and was not letting go. The serpent writhed in pain, but because Kiwi was not near either of its more moveable ends, it could not shake the tiny dog off.

Then things got weirder, as a monstrously colossal tail slammed through the front wall. The tail swept Astaroth and his serpent out of the room. Sam was knocked to the side, and raised his hands over his head to cover himself from all the falling debris.

Hurricane force winds accompanied the destruction of the room, and a disgusting wail filled Sam's ears. He looked out to see the havoc occurring in the warehouse and was horrified.

Leviathan had also morphed into his true form, and his true form was a creature in the shape of something similar to a dragon. His size was immense, and took up nearly half the warehouse. The serpent attacked Leviathan as Astaroth let out a horrific screech and clawed at the monster as well. The huge creature screamed and swung its head down in an attempt to take out Astaroth.

Then Sam finally saw it.

Behind the monsters a portal had been created, and it was obviously the source of the winds. It was clearly a gateway to the Outer Realms. What little Sam could see through the portal was sickening. To Sam's horror, disembodied hands appeared around the opening, pulling and tearing at the sides to make it wider. Sam could hear a terrible wail, which seemed to be coming from the opening.

Everything was being sucked into it. Sam watched as paper, demons, and desks with souls chained to them were dragged into the opening. The souls were screaming from their excruciating pain.

Sam felt Kiwi grabbing him. The dog was protected from the force by the remains of the wall shielding the office from the warehouse. Sam got the hint and managed to pull himself into the opposite corner. Both watched as files were sucked out of the room, flying directly into the now immense opening.

But Kiwi couldn't hold on, especially as the flying files battered both the dog and Sam. The force pulling the files finally sucked up Kiwi, and the dog started to fly out of the room.

Sam lunged for the dog and caught it right before it flew into the warehouse. But in doing so, he put himself directly in the middle of the storm. He held onto the remainder of the door frame, trying to keep his hold on Kiwi as well. But the force of the winds were too strong, and Kiwi dropped. The Chihuahua flew out towards the portal.

Suddenly, out of nowhere a white light began to appear. It started to glow, gaining in its brilliance. Sam had no idea where it was coming from. The monsters, however, didn't like it. They backed away, moving towards the open portal.

The light grew until it was blinding, and Sam had to close his eyes. The last thing he heard before losing consciousness were the screams of the damned, and then everything faded to black.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** There is still one more chapter left, and yes, I am trying to get it up as soon as possible! Thanks for your patience, and for sticking with the story this long. I really do appreciate it.

�

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�

Lucifer surveyed the damage in the warehouse. Several of his staff of overseers were hurt and nearly half the souls had been lost to the Outer Realms. But what annoyed him most was the loss of paperwork. That was going to be a bitch to replace.

The personal physician for Hell came over to his side. Lucifer instructed him, "I want you to look after Sam for right now, Uphir."

"But my Lord, the staff has many injuries whereas the child is barely touched…"

Lucifer sent a wave of immense pain through his aide. He did so hate repeating himself. "Sam _**first**_."

Uphir bowed through his anguish and went to tend to the unconscious boy.

�

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�

Sam was at a construction site. He had to be. Nothing else could explain the pounding in his head, the board he was lying on, and the sandpaper rubbing his face.

With his eyes still closed, he tried to half-heartedly shoo the sandpaper away, but that only earned him more scratches. When his hand made contact with a dog's head, Sam finally opened his eyes.

Kiwi was licking him, attempting to wake him up. The Chihuahua was practically in his face, nuzzle to nose. Sam could tell the dog was trying to control its excitement, since it wasn't bouncing up and down with as much enthusiasm as it usually did. Kiwi did, however, lay back on hind legs, twitch, and thump its tail eagerly on Sam's chest.

Even though his head was killing him, Sam couldn't stifle his grin. "Hey, Kiwi. Glad to see you safe and sound." He scratched the little dog's ears. Kiwi leaned into it, as if it was the best massage ever.

"Well, look who's finally awake. Hey, sport."

Sam looked up from the floor he was laying on to see the Devil, who was sitting in the armchair next to the couch and had clearly been playing a video game. As soon as Sam saw the Devil, he groaned, pulled the blanket over his head, and tried to bury himself deeper into the carpet.

From under the blanket came his muffled whine. "Why can't it all just be a dream?"

The Devil chuckled. "Oh no, Sammy. No hiding. It's always best to just face reality head on."

Sam sighed and pulled the blanket back down. He hated his reality. Holding on to Kiwi, he pushed himself into more of a sitting position against the couch, which wasn't as easy as it should have been. He was surprised by how exhausted he was. God, he was **so **tired. 

Looking around, Sam noticed he was back in the living room of his penthouse. The raggedy old blanket covering him was the one he used at night when he slept on the floor in his bedroom. He was also wearing different clothes, made of a white linen. Sam refused to think about who might have dressed - or worse - undressed him. 

"You put me to sleep on the floor?"

A look of amusement passed over the Devil's face. "No, I put you to sleep on the couch. You're the one who rolled over and fell off. Twice. I'm sure it didn't help your headache."

The Devil reached over to the end table next to the armchair, picked up a small white bottle, and shook two pills out of it. Then he grabbed the glass of water. The Devil got up, moved over to the couch, and took a seat on the floor next to Sam. He handed the water and pills to him. 

Sam gave him a wary look.

The Devil assured him. "It's just plain aspirin, Sam, I promise. For your headache. I do have access to drugstores in the earthly realm, you know."

Sam hesitated, but the intense throbbing in his head campaigned heavily against his better judgment. He grudgingly took the medicine. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Sam downed the pills and water. The Devil took the glass back and waved his hand. The glass instantly returned to the end table. Sam leaned back, silently pleading for the pills to get to work instantly.

Absently petting the dog still on his lap, Sam finally asked, "What happened?"

The Devil beamed and wagged a finger at him. "You started a war, kiddo. You should be very proud. I know I am."

"For starting a war?"

"Sam," the Devil patiently admonished, "this is Hell. War is what we do."

Sam looked at him. "That portal. Was that the real Hell?"

"You've never seen the 'real' Hell, Sammy. But I suppose for your purposes, it was close enough. Astaroth will pay for that. Leviathan should have known better too."

"What do you mean?"

The Devil measured his words. "Let's just say that the reality of the Outer Realms doesn't exactly mix with the reality you and I are in right now. It's a lot like oil and water. When Astaroth and Leviathan changed into their true forms, the realities clashed and the portal was created." The Devil looked irritated. "Did quite a bit of damage too."

Joy. Sam remembered all the destroyed files and sighed. As if his job wasn't hard enough already. Going back to work was going to seriously suck. 

Choosing to overlook the easy opportunity the Devil had just given him to whine about work, Sam asked instead, "Speaking of damage, what was that light?"

"What light?"

Sam could tell the Devil was hiding something, even if he looked completely guiltless. 

"That light. That bright, white, blinding one that showed up right before I passed out. Astaroth and Leviathan hated it." Sam tried to remember. "In fact, I think _everyone _hated it. They all backed towards the portal when it appeared. It's even probably the source of my headache, it was so intense." He rested back against the couch again, and put a hand to his still aching forehead. "Come to think of it, it looked a lot like that light that shined back at the fake Pearly Gates where I came in. Only this light was **much **brighter."

The Devil scrutinized Sam very carefully. The boy was good, and therein laid the danger. Sam was so close to the truth, he could practically reach out and touch it. 

The Devil responded as cryptically as possible. "Since you also saw it at a different portal, then it's probably the same light. We don't see the effect very often, except at the entrance you arrived at. Maybe it's a result when two realities mix." 

Sam shrugged at the answer. His head hurt too much to think very clearly. "I guess, although it's weird that this time it came _after _the portal opened, and not at the same time." Sam shook his head in thought, then grimaced from the pain. He changed the subject. "What's going to happen to Astaroth?"

"Don't worry about it. He'll be punished accordingly. I did threaten my full wrath." The Devil mused, "I will admit though, that his plan had a certain bit of brilliance, even if his greediness was the cause of his downfall. Astaroth and Leviathan share no love. It's no wonder Astaroth refused to let Leviathan's recruits escape from his own kingdom. He loves punishing them too much."

"Astaroth said no one ever looks at the recruiters when souls escape."

"No, we usually don't, and I have to admit I only cared about the large losses at the time, and not the smaller details. However, Astaroth had just started hinting about a possible recruiter connection, right before you arrived. He told lies that he'd lost more Leviathan recruits than nearly any other. I didn't know they were lies at the time, though."

A wide grin spread across the Devil's face. "Once I gave the job to you, boy, he must have really scrambled to make sure his deception was better concealed. I'm guessing that was supposed to be Bob's job. But unfortunately for Astaroth, he chose a protégé that was a bit too much like his master. Astaroth killed him for allowing you to be the one to go through his files - not that it mattered, since you'd already been taking notes anyways. Ironic how after all Astaroth did to stall you, his actions only ended up _speeding _your discovery of his treachery."

The Devil lightly patted Sam's knee. "Plus, Leviathan's been stewing for awhile. Making it look like he was the betrayer so that I would go after him in Astaroth's stead was very, very sneaky of Astaroth. It will be fun watching him struggle to regain respect for his leadership."

Sam looked shocked. "You're letting Astaroth keep his kingdom? After what he did?"

"Of course." The Devil acted as if that had never been in question. He regarded Sam. "Sam, why do you think everyone does my bidding?"

Sam snorted. "That's easy. Because you're pure evil and will terrorize anyone who doesn't give you what you want."

The Devil chuckled and leaned back. "Perhaps. Now don't get me wrong - fear is a powerful motivator. I will definitely grant you that. There are many situations where fear and terror are the best forces to keep subjects in line. But I've been around a long time, Sam, and I want you to think about this: Do you really think I hold - and keep, mind you - my position of power simply because my followers are afraid of me?" 

Sam said nothing, but gave the Devil a curious look.

The Devil tilted his head towards Sam and nudged him gently. "Let me put it another way. Do you truly believe that the greatest leaders throughout history only got their power from fear? The President? The Pope? The greatest kings, queens, emperors, and czars? What about Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar? Or even," the Devil glanced towards the ceiling, "you-know-who Himself?"

He then looked back to Sam. "Do you honestly believe people worshipped them, obeyed them, and in some cases followed them to their deaths, simply because they were _afraid _of what would happen to them if they didn't? Is that how you think I managed to convince a third of heaven to rebel with me and ultimately follow me into this place?"

"No," Sam said slowly. "Not when you put it like that."

"When I brought you here, Sam, I could have just ordered everyone to obey your instructions. And they would have, no question about that." The Devil shot Sam a significant look. "I could have simply given you power, but I didn't. Why is that?"

The truth dawned. "You wanted everyone here to respect me."

"Good boy, Sam," the Devil beamed. "And you only get respect by earning it. It can't be given to you simply because someone else _orders _others to give it to you."

Sam sighed. "Yeah, I think Ted's got that poster in his office."

The Devil laughed. "You did an excellent job earning respect here, Sammy. You turned your staff, nearly two dozen High Lords, and pretty much every demon you've met into allies of yours. Kiwi here nearly gave up his life for you. Even Leviathan came to your aid, when technically he could have waited until after you were dead. It would have been easy for him to insure Astaroth would take all the retribution for your death."

Sam leaned back against the couch as he digested what the Devil was telling him. He quietly kept listening as the Devil continued to explain.

"Now when you return - and yes, Sam, there will be other times when I will bring you back here - and I give you other assignments where you will need to be in charge, you and I both know how very few problems you will have with the demons you will need to work with." 

The Devil smiled and tried to ruffle Sam's hair, but Sam weakly waved him off. "Heck, I wouldn't even be surprised if you had half of Hell lining up to help you voluntarily, kiddo. You have definitely made quite the impression here. Like I've been saying, Sammy, of the many things I adore about you, the fact that I never have to _worry _about you ranks up there at the top of the list."

Sam was still confused, however. "I still don't understand how this explains why you're letting Astaroth keep his power, after all he did. I thought you were punishing him. Your full wrath, you said."

"Think about it," the Devil prompted him. "Compare how everyone will treat you as a leader, versus how they will treat Astaroth, who has retained his power only due to my word."

Suddenly, everything was clear. "You're punishing him by humiliating him."

"Guilty as sin, sport. Never deny the power of humilation, Sam. As much fun as it can be when I'm just messing around for no reason, it is also a **very **powerful tool if a lesson needs to be learned. Humiliation can bring even the most powerful to their knees. But you're forgetting the best part, Sammy."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "What's that?" 

The Devil grinned broadly. "As a Prince, Astaroth still has to attend your meetings." He actually rubbed his hands together in glee. "Just imagine Astaroth's humiliation! Forced to attend daily meetings with all the other High Lords who know about his failed plans and crushing defeat; required to clean up his own self-induced breach under the very public eyes of all of Hell; obliged to accept advice from a slave - and even worse, the very same slave that brought him down." The Devil couldn't look happier. "I might even have to show up to see that."

"You really are evil."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Sam."

Sam gave a slight nod. "I guess I can afford to compliment you once. After all, Astaroth did try and kill me." Then he remembered something, and he accused the Devil. "Wait. Back in my office you called me lazy. You already knew Astaroth was the culprit."

"Yeah, I'll admit I was kinda disappointed you didn't get the hint."

"If you already knew, then why did you need me?"

The Devil gave a wry look. "Technically, I didn't know. I only suspected. I told you Astaroth had only just started his lies about Leviathan right before you showed up. And I hate to admit it, but as much as I love to punish people, it only really works best if it's the right person. I wasn't 100 percent sure yet it was Astaroth. There was no real proof."

"And you have your proof now?"

"Of course."

"Was it really necessary to topple all the stacks?"

"You did say you couldn't figure your problem out. I thought a little _push _might help." The Devil chuckled at his own joke.

"So not funny. Remind me never to ask you for help again."

"No problem. I'll keep it in mind the very next time you beg me for information on a case you're working on."

Sam let his head drop in frustration. He'd walked into that. Too bad the action just re-intensified his still pounding headache.

"I have to say, Sammy, your notes showed the pattern right away, before you even noticed it. You do good work, buddy."

"You went through my notes?"

"Of course. When you were at dinner and during your meetings. I always go through your stuff, kiddo. That shoebox you hide under your bed, though, has me stumped. What's with the used movie tickets?"

"Don't."

"Or the chewed up pencils?"

Sam sighed. "It's just some small stuff I've collected over the years to remind me of Andi. The tickets were from the first time we ever went to a movie together. And Andi always chews her pencils when she's nervous, mainly when she's afraid Ted isn't falling for her latest prank. Now knock it off."

"Aww. Stolen mementoes. So cute, if not a bit stalkerish and creepy. I approve."

"..aaaaand _that _box is so gonna get burned the second I get home."

They sat in silence for a moment before Sam finally asked his question.

"I am going to be able to go home someday, right?"

"Yes, Sam. You will go back home. But it will take you a little while, especially now that several of the files have been lost." The Devil gave Sam a compassionate look. "I'll tell you what. You've done such great job, and I am so proud of you, I'm going to do you a solid. Instead of returning us to 99, I'll let you go home when you get to 98. I figure at the rate you and your staff work, you might be able to make it back home by your birthday. That's only two months away."

Sam acknowledged the lowered goal gratefully, even if it was still hard to bear the thought of another two months in Hell. "Thank you. But I think I might need to help out on Earth when we finally get to the harder cases. For one, I might need access to the internet."

"If it comes to that, we can work out an arrangement when the time comes. No home though."

"Alright." Sam looked over at the Devil and decided to test his luck. "I'm not really your pawn, am I?"

The Devil conceded. "No. But you already know that."

"So what position am I?"

The Devil smiled. "What position do you want to be?"

Sam thought about it. "I want to be the bishop."

The Devil appraised Sam carefully. "You're not religious, Sammy."

"Still," Sam mused, "the irony of a holy piece helping the black king doesn't escape me. I do good for evil." Sam gave a quick glance at the Devil. "I mean, at least for right now."

Damn. The boy was _**good**_. So close. "Okay fine, Sam. You can be the bishop."

"Nice." Sam leaned back, satisfied. He was still idly petting Kiwi, who had long since settled into Sam's lap.

Time to distract Sam before he asked any more questions. The Devil got a mischievous grin and pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. "Hey, want to know what Andi's been saying about you in her diary?"

Sam eyed the book in disbelief. "You are unbelievable! Put that back! You don't own her and that's _her _personal property you're invading. Haven't you put me through enough hell this week?" His shoulders slumped. "You know how badly it ended between us. Why would I want to hear about how much she hates me?"

"You never know, kiddo," the Devil nudged him. "Absence can make the heart grow fonder."

Sam groaned in exasperation. "How would you know? You don't **have **a heart."

"Yeah. It does make things easier." He perked up and reached over to get the two game controllers. He handed one to Sam. "Let's play." 

"No."

"C'mon, Sammy. No one ever wants to play with me." The Devil pouted. "I'll even let you win."

"You are such a liar. I'm not going to play any game with you, especially ones I already know I'll lose."

The Devil eyed him approvingly. Then he solemnly said, "You know, Sam, that's quite possibly the smartest decision you will ever make with me." He leaned back and sighed. "Fine, then. I'll let you get a few shots off to make it seem like you _could _win."

Sam studied him tiredly and with great suspicion. His head still hurt, and he was still exhausted beyond belief. All he really wanted to do was go back to sleep. But the Devil looked too pathetic.

Sam took pity and gave in. "Alright. Hand it over."

The Devil smiled and Sam took the controller. The Devil restarted the game - and promptly killed Sam's character.

He gave Sam an impish grin and leaned over to him playfully. "You didn't specify exactly _when _you wanted that close game."

Sam just muttered an "of course" as his exhaustion got the better of him, and he collapsed back onto the floor and rolled his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N**: I can't believe it's finally finished! This sucker was muuuuch harder to write than I thought. I am sorry it took a lot longer than I originally planned. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Also, although I do have 'missing' and 'post' scenes, none either add to the story, or make a complete story on their own. At least, not right now. :-) I did try to allude to a few of them.

**Acknowledgements**: _Joan of Arcadia_ and pacejunkie for giving me the idea for these stories in the first place, even though neither realize their powers as muses. ;-)

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"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." _John 1:4-5_

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." _John 3:20_

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." _Matthew 5:14-5:15_

"And God saw the light was good." _Genesis 1:4 _

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Patience was a virtue Lucifer had long since accepted he would need to keep. It was simply too useful. As a rule, it was often the best method to get what he wanted, especially from the human souls he so carefully chose to bestow his attentions on.

And as his physician, Uphir, had warned him, until Sam cast aside his earthly body, patience would always be required when dealing with the child.

Not that Lucifer always minded. However, he was a bit peeved that for right now, patience was coming in the form of a sick day. In his entire existence, he'd never allowed anyone to take time off for an excuse as pathetic as that they didn't feel well.

But Sam wasn't just anyone. Besides, after what the boy did in the warehouse, he _did _need to rest.

Lucifer put the video controller down and looked over at Sam. It hadn't taken him long to fall back asleep. Uphir had warned the boy's recovery rate would be slow, but Lucifer knew Sam would return back to work on his own much sooner than expected, probably even before he was ready. Sam had always been one of his most dedicated employees.

Quirking a small smile to himself, Lucifer waved a hand over the boy. "Let's try this again, hmm?" Immediately, Sam's still sleeping form materialized on the far more comfortable couch above him. Lucifer looked down at the ratty old blanket he'd purposefully left on the floor. He picked it up, stood, and placed it carefully over Sam. Lucifer gave a wry grin in remembrance. The last time he'd made such a gesture was when Sam had slept in a crib.

As soon as he was done, Lucifer stood back. Kiwi took the opportunity to lightly jump onto the couch. The tiny dog circled around on top of Sam, never once disturbing him. Then Kiwi laid down on top of Sam's chest, curled into a contented ball, and looked up at his boss.

Lucifer smiled and reached down to scratch the dog's ears. "You've done an outstanding job. There will be a promotion for all your work." Then he instructed, "When he wakes up and realizes what he's sleeping on, make sure that he finds the pillow and extra blanket hidden in the closet." Kiwi twitched in acknowledgement of the order.

Lucifer stood back again and sighed. "I will discuss with him his stubborn refusal to accept the temptation of his bed when he has recovered more, since I'm sure it will be quite the battle of wills. One I'll admit I'm even considering letting him win."

Giving Kiwi a playful wink, however, Lucifer gazed around the lavish penthouse and said mischievously to the dog, "The rest of the place, though, is still up for grabs."

Although he could easily materialize out of the room, Lucifer decided to take the less direct route instead. There was no need to hurry. He walked over to the elevator and the doors immediately opened. He stepped in, and the doors closed.

They opened again straight into the office he kept while in this reality. It was a large, richly decorated room, lined with dark bookshelves stacked with volumes of ancient tomes and an assortment of equipment designed for various evil purposes. At the far end next to the alcove sat his rather immense mahogany desk, and Lucifer saw to his satisfaction that his three most trusted advisors were already seated around it.

Lucifer took a seat on the other side of his desk in his own ornate chair. "Report."

"Astaroth is near defeat," Beelzebub informed him. "The fool left himself wide open. He placed most of his commanders and armies in one area at the outer edge of his realm, expecting to send them directly towards Leviathan's kingdom. Consequently, he was ill prepared for a battle within the remainder of his home territory. Invasion was effortless, considering he had no guard for a significant portion of his borders."

Leviathan gave an evil grin. "And since his troops were all concentrated in such a small region, they were ripe for the picking. Most have been slaughtered already."

Lucifer leaned back in his chair and nodded his approval. "Good. Remember, Astaroth retains his throne. Torture his staff if you want, but leave some alive as continuous reminders of his defeat. I want him **thoroughly **humiliated for his actions."

"Of course, my Lord," Asmodeus replied. "Your will be done." Then with a covert glance at the others, he asked, "How is the child?"

Lucifer silently regarded his advisors a moment before answering. "Sam is fine, although his body still feels the aftereffects of what happened. I do expect him to return to work almost immediately, however, so make sure things are ready for him. I don't want him to overexert himself while he recovers."

"He has no idea, does he?"

"He has many ideas, Beelzebub," Lucifer corrected. "But none so far have formed into the right one. I've managed to throw him off the truth for now. I'm sure he believes that the portal was the source of the light and not that it was he himself. Make sure he does not find out otherwise."

Asmodeus hesitated before speaking his concern. "His soul is too bright, Lucifer. He's simply too good. It's almost like bringing an angel here. I saw his light as far out as my own kingdom, and that was _with _his living body still covering him. When he dies, who knows how bright he'll be."

"That is a problem," Lucifer agreed. He pulled out Andi's diary and turned it over in his hand. Then he placed the diary on his desk. "I did manage to dim him a bit before he came. However, it's practically insignificant since even when the boy sins, he usually does so either because his choice has already been manipulated for him, or for reasons associated with good - both of which unfortunately still give him quite a bit of protection. It's never sinning for the sake of sin. It's beyond annoying. But regardless, it _is _possible to tempt him on occasion. I will, of course, continue to pursue those avenues."

Lucifer leaned back against his chair, pressed his hands together, and frowned. "I have a much bigger concern regarding him, however."

His advisors said nothing, and patiently waited for their master to continue.

He didn't make them wait long. "Shortly before I wanted to bring him here, I received last minute word he was working on a case. It seemed Perdition was scrambling to make a vessel for him."

Asmodeus kept the puzzlement out of his voice. "Surely that's not unusual, given the boy's work ethic."

"Except I didn't activate him. He came across the case because he saw the soul of the victim."

All three stilled. Even Leviathan looked stunned. "A _heaven _bound soul?"

"It gets worse. The soul came to Sam for help, Sam did not go to her. She appeared where **he **was, and not where _she _died."

Beelzebub looked extremely grave. "A direct message from Him, then. No wonder you sped up the boy's arrival here."

"Yes. I had planned to take advantage of the opportunity the breaches gave in order to introduce Sam more into our," Lucifer hesitated, "_way _of life. But once I learned about the girl, it became quickly apparent his coming here was even more imperative than I thought. I had to take Sam out of His loop, before any more heaven bound souls could seek the boy out. She must have thought he was the light she needed to go towards in order to get to Heaven. Fortunately, I'm positive Sam believes it was his demon powers that allowed him to see the girl. Once the escaped souls from the breach are more contained, I'm sure He'll let Sam go."

Asmodeus gave him a shrewd look. "Then the Earth situation is even graver than we believed, if He used Samuel to inform you of His displeasure. That He even took such a step to communicate with you in any shape or form is almost unprecedented since the Fall."

"I agree, He's upset. The victim Sam saw was, after all, killed by an escaped soul from the breaches," Lucifer confirmed.

There was silence for a moment, before Beelzebub finally spoke what they were all thinking. "Do you think He will go back on His Word?"

"No," Lucifer shook his head. "Sam is mine. Once I learned of him, I was allowed to take him. Father won't interfere, even if He'll occasionally use Sam for His own reasons." Lucifer then mocked spitefully, "Remember, He never gives His favorite little _darlings _more than they can handle. It's obvious at this point that Sam is more than capable of handling us."

"You're playing with fire, Lucifer, bringing such a light into our darkness," Beelzebub warned. "While he may be capable of handling us, the boy is clearly not capable of handling _himself_."

"Nonsense," Lucifer contradicted. "He's quite capable of control. I have numerous reports that Sam didn't even attempt to close the portal until _after _his herder was caught up completely in the storm. They've bonded, and it's clear that Sam did not act until he believed the dog was beyond his grasp. I also will cover him as much as I can with my own darkness. I am the Prince of Darkness, after all. Besides, I will be keeping Sam in his earthly form until he so chooses to discard it. That alone will prevent future incidents whenever he is in this particular realm."

Lucifer sighed. "I will admit though, it is looking more likely that I will have to take a more active role in training him - especially since he sees through nearly every attempt I make towards tempting him to sin. I do plan on giving him more responsibility as time goes on, and although this realm - and his body - contain him for the most part, his presence will eventually be required in the Outer Realms as well. He _will _need to learn more control there, and I have the most experience in these matters. Still, it's been a long time since as one of His closest Archangels I shined of light myself, even if I still retain my light-bearing name."

There was another silence, broken only when Leviathan spoke again. But this time his voice was low and threatening. "If you have brought Samuel here in order to get back into His Good Grace, I am warning you now, Lucifer, that you will lose my alliance forever. I will not stand for it."

The tension in the room could be cut by a knife. Leviathan was risking death just making his bold statement. But Lucifer looked at his old friend, and decided to let the offense pass. Just this once.

"No, Leviathan. I made my choice, and I do not regret it. You know that. Better to rule here than serve there." Lucifer waved up towards the ceiling. Then he gave a small chuckle. "But sometimes talking to Sam _does _feel like talking to Him. The boy can be irritatingly preachy at times."

Leviathan nodded, accepting Lucifer's response. "I could not believe when he rebuked Astaroth. The boy was about to die, and still he took the time to chastise the demon about to kill him."

That got an hearty laugh from Lucifer. "Please tell me he did the eye roll. It's classic when he does that. His indignation is worth watching too. He's my only subject who both knows his place and forgets his place. Often both at the same time."

Then Lucifer sobered and emanated a quiet display of command. "But even though I do not want to stand within His Grace again, that does not mean I do not want to return to power. I may not care for His Love, but I want my power back. We were removed to this darkness unjustly. This was decreed permanent for all time." Bitterness crept into his voice. "Worse, when time does ends, our punishment continues. We will forever be damned, our voices in important matters unheard. Forced to endure retribution even though we are invaluable within the Grand Design. Good must be complemented by evil."

"But a human soul as the answer, my Lord?" Asmodeus asked.

"Believe me, I recognize the irony of using a human, Asmodeus, when it was His love of humans over us that lead to our Disgrace. But Sam is the perfect choice to regain our position in His Heavenly Kingdom. He can be our eyes, ears, - and most significant - our voice."

Lucifer swiveled in his chair and pointed a finger. "Not even you, Leviathan, can argue against the impact Sam has made with the staff in the short time he has been here." He looked at the others. "Tell me, my friends, when is the last time you have **respected **a human soul? He desires no power, and therefore is not full of false humility. He is not weak, unlike the rest of the humans we deal with. He does not easily fall for temptation. And yet, Sam works well with evil, even though he is not evil himself. He is untouched by his time with us."

Standing up, Lucifer made to walk towards the elevator. Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Leviathan all stood, bowed, and followed him as Lucifer continued to speak.

"In other words, Sam moves freely in both realms - Heaven and Hell, good and evil. An _extremely _rare quality. The chasm is wide, and he can bridge our gap. He can regain for us the power we have so unfairly lost."

Leviathan still maintained his discontent. "I spend time enticing men to commit sins in direct repudiation of their faith, and now you are bringing in a soul that is directly _tied _to faith."

The elevator doors opened and Lucifer walked in, alone. He turned around to face Leviathan. "I am well aware that this is your main objection about Sam, Leviathan. You have more than made your position clear simply with your behavior since the boy arrived in Hell. But that is not a concern with Sam. He is not religious. He doesn't pray, read the Bible, or even go to service. In fact, the only time I have caught him even speaking to a priest about religious matters, I can assure you he most certainly was **not **asking about how to better worship Him. Father does not have an advantage with the boy."

Lucifer leaned forward to make his point. "But Sam understands the inherent weaknesses of humans, and that with me, evil deeds by souls in life do not go unpunished. He knows that in life, some rain must fall. Humans must be exposed to challenge, or else life is not worth living. It's only in winning and overcoming odds that we find true happiness and become successful. In fact, Sam probably has a better understanding of the Grand Design than most of the demons I know, let alone the humans."

With one final message, Lucifer made his position clear before allowing the elevator doors to close. "Make no mistake, my ambition knows no bounds. We have never had an opportunity like this, and I plan on taking it. I want our position represented within His Kingdom, even if _we_ can never return due to our Fall. I want our voice given back. Despite our fallen state, that power should never have been taken away from us in the first place, considering the importance of the service we unwittingly provide for Him. Sam can be the link between the two realms. All will be worth it, if he gets me a seat at His Table again - even if _Sam _is my delegate who sits there for me in my place."

* * *

Sam cursed. Forget world peace, right now he'd settle for a world currency. Or at the very least, more American money. He was hungry, dammit. He'd chased that last escaped soul through the rat-filled tunnels of Madrid for over an hour. Not even his team had been able to keep up. When Sam had finally caught the escapee, Sam had seriously considered letting the soul out just so that he could make the man suffer through the pain of vessel capture _again_.

Pushing around on the table the meager amount of coins he'd manage to scrounge, Sam sighed. No matter how hard he tried there still wasn't enough. He got up and tossed the one yen, one ruble, two pesos, and four euros into the trash, and then returned to his table. Somehow he was going to have to come up with a good excuse for everybody as to why he suddenly wanted to sign up for some foreign language classes at the nearest community college. Oddly, speaking Portuguese in particular would be a useful skill to have. There'd been a ton of escaped souls from Brazil. Apparently, Mardi Gras is quite the magnet for demon recruiters searching for potential sinners.

One thing was for sure, Sock was not going to find out about his so-called travels to other places. Not only had Sam had no time for sight-seeing, but the times he'd been allowed back on Earth to help out, all he'd seen were brothels, underground nightclubs, seedy hotels, and various other hell-on-earths. Sam suspected knowing that, however, would only add to Sock's belief that Sam was the luckiest bastard alive.

Sam gazed longingly at the McDonald's in the airport he was waiting in, and wondered who was going to pick him up this time. He hoped it was his dad instead of the usual demons. He'd never be able to convince Gladys to buy him a cheeseburger.

It had sucked when he'd missed his birthday goal by almost two weeks. There simply was too much work. At first, he hadn't minded it nearly as much as he thought he would, mainly because he'd been too busy to think about it. He'd spent the day as usual, going through cases, conferring with other reapers, developing plans to catch souls.

That is, until the Devil had decided to throw him a birthday party. Sam still hadn't forgiven him for that stupid birthday hat he had forced Sam to wear. At least Kiwi had also deigned to wear one, albeit in sympathy.

The only thing the Devil had remotely done to make up for it was allow Sam extra time on the phone with his mom and dad - a treat he occasionally got because as the Devil liked to mock him, Sam was 'such a Mama's boy, he'd check in even when he was running away.' Sam had been extremely grateful for the phone calls. He knew his parents couldn't handle it if they knew where he really was, so he always felt better after he checked in with them - even though he usually spent his time reassuring his mom he was okay by himself, and convincing his dad he still couldn't come home because he just wasn't over Andi yet. At least for _that _part he hadn't needed to lie.

Which made it all the more shocking when it was **Andi** who suddenly sat in the chair across from him.

"Hey, stranger," she said.

God, she was beautiful, even in her WorkBench apron. Sam didn't think it was possible for him to love her anymore than he did. He wondered if he'd ever be able to get over her.

"Andi? What are you doing here?"

"Funny thing, Sam. An hour ago while I was at work, this suddenly appeared." She took a red slip of paper out of her purse and put it on the table. Then she pushed it towards him.

Sam didn't need to see the little devil caricature on it in order to know it was a claim ticket for him. It was clearly addressed to Andi. It said the property - one Sam Oliver - was waiting for her at the SeaTac Baggage Claim. She could pick him up any time she wanted.

Sam quickly tried to cover. "Sock and Ben are such jokers. I called them to come pick me up - "

"It appeared out of midair, Sam." Andi made a gesture with her hands that mimicked an explosion. "Poof. Just showed up in a quick flame, and fell to the floor at my feet. Right in the middle of the plumbing aisle." She then leaned back, crossed her arms, and waited for him to respond.

Sam could say nothing to that. In fact, he suddenly found he could say nothing at all.

Andi leaned towards him, put a hand over his, and gently said, "I know, Sam."

Sam swallowed hard, and blinked back the sting of tears threatening in his eyes. He looked away in guilt.

"After you disappeared, it took Josie and I six days to crack Ben and Sock. It would have taken Josie even less time with Sock, but Ben stubbornly kept holding his ground. That is, until even he couldn't deny his worry any more. They finally spilled everything one night at the Brickhouse." Andi gave him a pointed look. "**Everything**, Sam."

Still avoiding her eyes, he tried again to cover. "You shouldn't believe anything those two - "

"I didn't. So I went to your parents."

And that was it. Andi knew.

She reached over and tilted Sam's chin up so that he was looking directly at her. "Your mom is sick from worry, despite your attempts to soothe her in your phone calls. Your dad can barely handle his guilt. I called them as soon as I got the ticket. They can't wait to have you home. They'll probably never let you out of their sight again. I'm to take you to them immediately. Everyone is there, at the house. Ben, Sock, Josie. They're all waiting for you to arrive. Even Kyle, who no, still doesn't know."

Then Sam finally spoke. In barely more than a whisper, and avoiding her eyes again, he confessed. "You're not supposed to know. He told me...I tried…I just wanted…"

But he couldn't finish.

This time it was Andi's turn to look down. She idly fingered the ticket laying on the table between them. "Well, apparently he's changed his mind."

Sam watched her. The shy way Andi was toying with the ticket raised his hopes. He quietly asked, "Have you?" He clarified when Andi looked up, confused. "Changed your mind, that is."

A wave of guilt crossed over Andi's beautiful features. She gave a deep sigh. "I lied to you, Sam."

"What do you mean, Andi?"

Andi got up and walked over to him. She pulled him up, and placed a hand against his cheek. Sam could drown in her eyes alone.

"You didn't always make me sad." With that confession, she tugged him close and gave him a kiss.

Oblivious to his surroundings, Sam deepened it. Andi was all too willing to oblige.

"Get a room already, losers."

Sam and Andi broke apart at the loud complaint. A wide grin was plastered on Sam's face, but Andi had the grace to look embarrassed.

Sam leaned in and nuzzled her nose. "Let's go home."

She nuzzled him back. "We _will _need to talk, Sam."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "But can't it be later?" He shot her a playful look. "I mean, why deny everyone the opportunity to fawn all over me sooner rather than later?"

Andi smiled. "Okay, you win. Fawning first. But we _will _talk, Sam. There's too much that still needs to be sorted out, and you know it." She kissed him again, then raised an eyebrow. "Sooo, is this what it's always like? Getting weird stuff out of the blue? Picking you up in odd places? What is with the baggage claim ticket?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, it's his idea of a joke. Baggage claims are hell-on-earth, so they can be official portals from you-know-where." Sam added an extra layer of sarcasm to his words. "And since I'm officially his _property_, he makes someone pick me up whenever I go through one of these particular exits. He finds annoying me extremely funny. When I'm with him, he likes to tell me I'm carry-on."

Andi laughed. "Wow. That puts my pranks on Ted to shame. So why aren't you still in baggage claim?"

Sam grinned. "Let's just say I can be just as annoying. They let me wander after I threw a fit when they tried to put me on the carousel. I'm not a suitcase for God's sake."

Suddenly, Andi gave a mischievous grin and walked around him, clearly checking him out.

Sam looked at her, suspicious. "What? Do I have something on me?"

"Nah," she lightly teased. "Just checking to make sure they did their job right. I wouldn't want to claim damaged property, y'know."

"Not funny, Andi." But he was smiling like a fool anyways. He took her hand, and they walked towards the office by the luggage carousels.

"Mmm," Andi tilted her head against him as they walked. "Today's been a good day, Sam. You're home. Would you believe I even managed to park by your car? Must be kismet."

Sam stopped abruptly. "Please tell me you're joking."

Andi frowned. "No. It was definitely your car. It's in the economy parking lot." Then she seemed to realize what she just said. "Oh. Yeah. You've been gone for over two months, haven't you? That parking fee is really gonna suck."

Frustration welled up in him. Sam glared down at the floor and stomped. "I am **so **going to get you back for that!"


End file.
